About Janice

Janice is a full-time Canadian artist and a recent transplant to Vancouver Island, British Columbia. With a background in media and interior design, she shifted her focus to painting over a decade ago and has been fully committed to her studio practice ever since.

Her foundation in the applied arts informs a strong emphasis on value, line, form, colour, and composition—core design principles that continue to shape her work.

In addition to formal studies at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Janice has further developed her practice through mentorships and workshops with established artist-educators across Canada and the United States.

She is represented by two Canadian galleries, and her work has been exhibited throughout North America. Her paintings are held in private collections across Canada, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Asia.

Artist Statement

I am a process-based artist and it is the “not knowing” of the creative process that inspires me to paint.  My canvases begin with improvised layers of colour and marks. I build my materials, playing with colour relationships, line, form and negative space. It is during a process of simplification when key lines and blocks of colour begin to create form.

In my observations of the natural and built world, abstract shapes often fuse themselves with figurative elements, showing themselves in unintentional and unexpected ways.  Layers and textures offer up a raw, tactile quality to the viewer. Allowing my materials to direct my work, every canvas takes me on a journey - a joyride really - where neither of us knows the final destination until we arrive.

It is this exciting and mysterious process that drives me to further explore and develop my visual language. Led by my curiosity and visually influenced by great contemporary artists such as Richard Diebenkorn, Nicolas De Stael, Amy Sillman and Chuta Kimura, I work to synthesize those influences to create art that is fresh and uniquely my own.

My studio practice ebbs and flows, and occasionally I find myself circling back to older pieces for re-working. Re-directions, quirks, changing energies and interests are a part of my nature and I have learned to embrace these shifts to create authentic work that nurtures my inner creativity.

Art is a teacher and has much to teach me about life and about myself. That is why I paint.