Coffee With ... Janet Davis

You would be hard pressed to consider there being a more idyllic existence for an artist than that of Janet Davis.
The Wesleyville native lives in a lovely yellow house with her husband and son. Right in front of it you have her art studio and gallery space, Norton's Cove Studio. Facing that is an incredible view of the ocean.
It's appropriate the water can be seen from Ms. Davis' studio. The majority of her art is centred around the sea and its inhabitants, which has been the region's economic backbone for centuries.
The building housing her studio dates back to the end of the 19th century, and was known as Kean's General Store. Captain Job Kean was a prolific businessman, and made the store a centre of commerce within the Brookfield area.
Left in disrepair for two decades, the building came into Ms. Davis' possession after she had completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) in Halifax, N.S. Four years later, Norton's Cove Studio opened its doors.
The old store vibe remains when you enter the studio. From the original shelving styles through to the wooden floor boards, and even the smell - the place feels authentic.
Aside from working on her own art - with non-toxic materials, she's proud to note - Ms. Davis also conducts art classes at the studio, and the site has also played host visiting art shows.

Q: You have brothers who are songwriters (Mick Davis plays in The Novaks, and Trevor and Steve are both songwriters themselves), and you have chosen an artistic path. Does the attraction to the arts come from your family history?
A: I don't think my family hindered any of it for sure. My mom was always creative. There was always a guitar and piano in the house. I actually took piano lessons as a kid ... there was always a house band in our garage.

Q: So how did you develop an interest in the visual arts?
A: I always did some craft work when I was younger - sewing and that sort of thing. When I was in high school, I knew for sure I didn't want to go to university to study history, geography, math, or any of that sort of stuff I wasn't enjoying in high school.
I saw a poster for the textile studies program in St. John's (at what's now known as the Anna Templeton Centre), and I convinced mom to bring me to their annual student exhibit at the end of June. I walked in and said, "Yes, this is what I'm going to do." It grew from there.
I was always creative, but I wasn't one for drawing and painting all the time. I was just an average teenage girl with not much interest in moving on.
That was very much an artistic course, more visual art than craft. It was textile, but it was about the visual importance rather than practical uses. From there, I went on to NSCAD.

Q: What was that experience like?
A: It was great. I loved the school, loved the course work, and fell in love with print making. Didn't like the city - couldn't stand it. I guess that's why I'm out here in my hometown. I really like the quiet, and having the ocean. No bums to walk by everyday or hookers on the doorstep - wasn't into that [laughs].

Q: So I guess it was always a sure thing you'd return to this area specifically?
A: Certainly not. In high school, I always said I was leaving and never looking back. I always expected to be in Toronto. I guess it didn't take very long for me to be outside of Newfoundland and realize, "What was I thinking?" It's a great life here, and I guess you don't recognize it until you experience somewhere else. The grass is always greener on the other side - until you get there [laughs].
My dad and mom bought these two building for very little, and they gave it to me. Both buildings were falling down, and there was absolutely nothing I could do with it at first. But through friends and family, and a lot of elbow grease, long hours, and quite a few tears, we got the two houses done up.

Q: So you have the shop here, and you do your studio work as well?
A: Right here, this is my work counter [slaps the counter]. When I first started here, I couldn't fill up all the space my own artwork, and I wouldn't want to change the shelving in the building. It would make sense to have it all ripped out and use the flat wall space for the gallery, but I couldn't possibly do that. I would never forgive myself for ruining the building. I have lots of friends in the arts as well, and I can fit little things they make on the shelves, so I started buying things from them to sell at the shop.

Q: Looking at your work, it seems a lot of it draws upon the sea for inspiration. What's your particular attachment to the sea?
A: That's something I've been trying to figure out [laughs]. As far as I can tell, I'm just a nutcase who really likes fish. Maybe I have a weird fetish? I don't know.
All I've wanted to do lately is draw fish, and I kind of see them more as portraits. They're so connected to us and our history and heritage. My family goes back to this exact area eight or nine generations.
I was talking with dad about this the other day, asking him, "Why do I draw all these pictures of salt fish?" He said, "Well, your grandparents were steeped in salt fish, and your great-grandparents were steeped in salt fish - it just makes sense you would be too."
Maybe it's from working in a heritage building all day and night, and I'm thinking about little things. There's the branding iron for Job Kean - that's what he would've used for branding his salt fish barrels with. All this stuff is around me, and I'm kind of living in the past.
Why does someone like blue more than red? I don't know. I just like fish, and I wish someone would explain it to me.

Q: What are you working on right now?
A: Salt fish [laughs]. I just got a grant from the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council, and I'm studying salt fish.
Not that this is what started the salt fish thing, but a couple of years ago, I was at a craft fair, which I go to almost every year, to sell my work in St. John's. There's an etching I did of a salt cod - not abstracted at all. There was a woman who was at least in her 20s, and she said, "Huh. What's that?"
I was so dumbfounded - I don't even think I answered her. "Is it a puffer fish?" I just can't get that out of my mind. Puffer fish? What the heck? What's wrong with this woman. I asked her where she was from, and she said St. John's.
How can you not know what a salt cod is - even if you're a townie? St. John's was just as active or more so than the rest of us. I can't fathom not recognizing that.
I can't understand it at all - because I was starting to think I was probably really nuts, and people were likely tired of seeing fish, being a cliched Newfoundland thing. You expect to see it. Then this woman threw it all by the wayside.
Apparently we do need more pictures of salt fish, because the message isn't necessarily out there. This is why I live in Brookfield and not England - because my ancestors came here for salt fish. It's an important part of our heritage, and we do need to know that.

Q: Do you have any sort of favourite material to work with depending on the kind of art you're doing?
A: I like to mix it up. I don't like sticking with one direct path. A lot of times I will print on to fabric and then embroider on top of that. I have some paintings in my head that are not there for you to see yet, but I can see them involving bits of fabric too and being more textural - using thick paint with ropes and textures pressed in so the piece has a textural look. I hate flat paint.

Q: Is it a struggle to keep the shop going year round, or is that just a side thing compared to its use as a studio and art space?
A: It has been a struggle over the years. This is my eighth year here as a business. Every year it's gotten a little bit better, and this one was fantastic. We got the ceiling insulated this year. It's been a lot of steps. Every year we've had freeze ups, so we're figuring it out. We have a food furnace that heats the two buildings.
Winter time is my favourite time to be here, in a way, because there are not a lot of interruptions. My son is now in school all day instead of being home and wanting me to take him to the beach and that sort of stuff. It's when I can concentrate on getting work done. For that reason, it's important for me to be here in the winter.
Socially, it's also great. Last year, we had about a dozen students all winter, so every Wednesday night we'd meet here. It's a great little social thing, because in a place like this I don't fit in with the usual crowd. I don't play darts, don't drink beer, and I don't like going on skidoos.
We have this nice little group that appreciates art and meets every week, so that's good for my soul.
In the summer, tourists come through, and it gets quite busy. We probably see the same number of people in a day then as we do for a whole month in the winter.

Q: Do you feel the province does a good job of supporting and promoting its artists?
A: I think they are. For a good few years they weren't doing such a great job, but in the last three I think there have been some major improvements. The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council supports me, the Craft Council has been a huge supporter for a lot of years - I've been a member since 1990. There's all kinds of programs they've helped me with.
I think what the provincial government needs to give more money to groups like the Craft Council. Ten years ago, they were told to become self-sufficient, because the government couldn't do that stuff. The government has changed since then, and I think they need to start reevaluating where they put their money.
I know the Arts Council has received more, and they still need more. But (the government) is doing a good job.

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