Felines, Feathers and Fins, Oh My!

A couple of weeks ago, we continued our visit around small town Ontario by traveling up to a few places we'd been meaning to see - much of which included local art and artists. One of these fine folk artists was Janet Donald Wright from Warkworth, Ontario. She's an animal lover and it shows in almost every one of her pieces which so playfully depict nature.

Frank and I had the pleasure of meeting her where she sells some of her pieces - a shop called Nature on Maine. We had been there a few months prior, and Frank purchased one of her whimsical pieces then. He was in the market for more and that's just what we found.

Janet took time out from her busy day at the studio to meet with us (she and Frank had been in contact via email) and show us some of her incredibly clever art. What makes Janet's work unique is that she uses only recycled items to create her fanciful masterpieces. You can find a few of her offbeat items below. Please remember to click on each of them to enlarge.




Cutie felines adorn slices of a bed post, hung on what appear to be fish hooks. I own a beautiful blue heron which Janet painted on a similar piece. Remind me to show it to you sometime.




An adorable owl sits on a piece from a bentwood chair and was made from barn board, window shutters and pieces of a bed. Its whacky legs and talons were made with dinner forks.




This wide-eyed creature was designed using a piece of picket fence, some Victorian ceiling tin and a slice from a bed post for that oversized eye These pre-existing items and brightly coloured paint transfomed it into a blue-finned wonder.




The body of this emerald green bird was made from an old wooden folk art toilet paper holder. Square nails give it its head feathers and forks make up its feet. Everything in between came from bed posts and ceiling tins.




Spotted fish live their lives in a bubble. The painted parts are on denim attached to recycled canvas. The fish are the result of an unfortunate motorcycle accident. Janet's favourite leather coat sacrificed itself for her while taking an unexpected slide down the highway. The fish were made from this leather. The texture is cat kibble.




These mischievous creatures were made out of corks from wine bottles which Janet made a point of stressing were USED! Other parts include nails, milkweed pods and parts, clay, feathers and other miscellaneous items available to her.




Clever Janet made this long fish's body from a part of an old wooden water ski. Other parts include a bed post piece, ceiling tin and a piece of wooden shutter. I love the expression on its face.




This goofy blue jay was a wooden platter, several shutter pieces, sliced bed posts, forks and chair parts.

Frank bought the following two pieces.


The crow is painted on denim placed on recycled canvas.




The stool was a garage sale find which took well to Janet's lovely horse design.




This impressive deer was made from actual antlers, pieces of a pine bed, picket fence and a wooden turning cut in half for the eyes. It's mounted on a table top.




Mother Nature was made from a picket fence piece, spoons and chair brackets. Her face was made from a carved mug which Janet cut up. The bird was a piece from a broken carving.

Janet has very few items available for sale on her eBay site, but I'm sure you could contact her through that venue if you would like to purchase something similar to the above items. I'm not receiving any revenue by blogging about Janet's art. I just really love her work and wanted to share it with you.

Thanks for the many smiles that your artwork evokes, Janet!

Updated March 28 to add a link to Janet's brand new blog, Instant Karma.