I am a Canadian artist. I live in rural south central Ontario.
My repertoire is varied. I work in pencil drawing, pen and ink drawing (not any more!), pencil crayon drawing, woven tapestry, my version of machine stitchery and manipulated quilting as well as oil painting.
I am driven by visual experiences that trigger a desire to express them through whatever medium I work in that seems to fit them best.
The beginning? As long as I can remember. It’s who I am. I am fortunate to have had so many greatly talented individuals to follow. One in particular, my Uncle Freddy, F.W.K. Smith, who took me under his wing from that beginning. It is my memory of him that drives me to reach higher. Through him, at a very young age, I attended the Doon School of Fine Art in Cambridge Ontario, home of Canadian painter, Homer Watson. Add a handful of credits from the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD), some direction from a small Toronto weaving studio and, from there, I flew solo.
Through the years, my creative work has stepped aside for other commitments, but, I knew it would always be waiting in the wings. Even then, there has always been a sewing project here and a woven piece on a loom there. Birthday and holiday gifts often gave way to an oil painting or two as well as a chance to push some other medium.
Door is open now. I recently started digging out my pieces from various nooks and crannies. I was surprised at what I found. However, I have paid my dues. It’s all coming alive again. My main focus will be on pouring all I have done and learned both creatively as well as in life, so far, into oil painting. For the most part, that will center on landscape, however I will let each piece be the guide to the next and allow the medium itself to take me where it wants to go.
As for all the other things I do, the mere excitement of colour and tactile magic, whether it is a box of pencil crayons, a drawer full of threads or a shelf of velvets, silks and suedes, I’m in!
I love art. And I love so many artists who, throughout history, have paved the way for people like me.
Jan Woods
F.W.K. Smith
Untitled, 1950, 51 x 62 cm, oil on canvas board
Mountain Morning, 1984, colour print from original oil on canvas
Uncle Freddy died in his 100th year. He was born on Valentines Day.