Artist’s Statement
Have you ever been so taken by a place or a moment in time that you wanted the world to stop so you could just stand there and drink it in for as long as you wanted, placing all of life’s obligations on hold? That’s what spending time painting is for me. True, the moment has probably been captured in a photo, and I get to tweak the composition if needed, but my memory and image of the place is with me while I’m painting it. How the sun feels on my shoulders, how the air smells and the noises or peaceful stillness that surrounds me, is all with me while I try to capture the visual highlights that make it magical for me.
Why water-colour? It’s one of the more challenging mediums to work with. There’s an element of risk working with its transparency. So, I strive to let go and let it be a co-creator and let wonderful things happen. My passion for water-colour comes from being able to combine the structure of a well-planned drawing, it’s composition, values and balance, with the freeness and flow of the watercolour medium. I start with soft colours then gradually work in the darks, correcting values and the overall balance as needed.
I enjoy creating scenes from nature that are calm and have a sense of wonder to them. And want to explore more figurative and narrative work in the coming years.
Artist’s Background
Janet Tovey is an Associate and Administrator for The Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour and a member of the Mississauga Watercolour Society.
She lives in Mississauga, Ontario and continues exploring her passion for art in several mediums but prefers watercolour. She has entered shows at Visual Arts Mississauga, and participated in a fund raising event with Art for Cancer Foundation. She has taught art workshops in perspective drawing and continues to develop her skill through courses and workshops and sharing with other artists.
She studied at Ryerson University in Toronto, graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Arts.
Through life’s twists and turns, her business career has been in the health and wellness industry where she’s worked for over 20 years. In her personal life she has explored water-colour painting with artists at Visual Arts Mississauga, Sir Sanford Fleming College, Dundas School of Art as well as private group lessons.
Although she was born in the west end of Toronto, Ontario she spent summers, weekends and holidays in the Muskoka region and Ontario’s cottage country. Small towns, boating, tree-fort building and nature’s creatures were part of every summer. This upbringing created a love of rural communities and a passion for exploring nature’s elements. Creating arts and crafts has always been a part of her life.
Her watercolour work is included in corporate and private collections around North America.