The Scarlet Peacock

Darling Reader,

Have you ever come across little pieces of art that sparkle and shine, that ooh and aah you, and that bring tons of tiny stories of whimsy to your head? You have? So you’re familiar with the work of Ms. Janet Hill from Janet Hill Studios, too?! Well, my dearest Reader, be prepared to fall in the loveliest of love with Ms. Hill’s work, and la artiste herself…
    

TSP:  Hello Janet! Give us a little bit of a backdrop about your history of painting and your etsy shoppe.
JANET:  My artistic background is that I received my BFA from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. After graduating, I traveled and worked various jobs until I decided to open a retail store in Stratford, Ontario. After six years of being a 'shop girl' I grew to loathe it- I wasn't a good salesperson and I kept thinking that there was something else that I should be doing. So I shut the shop and decided to paint full-time. I started selling my work on ebay then I discovered etsy and pretty much switched over to etsy. It seems less confusing to me.
    
TSP:  I completely agree. What medium do you work in?
JANET:  Oil on canvas. Pretty traditional. My ideal setting to begin a piece is pretty much in my studio.  I'm very boring. I'm not very big on working anywhere else because I hate moving my messes.
TSP:  I wouldn’t call that boring- I would call that smart! So how would you describe your creative style?

JANET:  I don't really know if I have a creative style. I'm pretty pragmatic about it. Sometimes I wake up and I'm full of ideas, other days I almost have to be poked with a stick to get myself into the studio. So I guess, the fear of poverty, or working for someone else keeps me pretty driven. Also, I think my creativity comes out almost intuitively. I see things and later it sinks into my brain and comes out into a painting. 
TSP:  Your intuition is definitely visibly spot on. What are a few of your favorite things?

JANET:  I adore my family (this includes my husband and our crazy cat and dog, and extended family), our tiny Victorian cottage, the color green, raw oysters, cocktails and gossip with my girlfriends, French-milled soap, my little black Mercedes, and the ocean.  How's that for variety!
TSP: Charming! Let’s chat about your shoppe. Describe it for us.
JANET:  If my shop were a band...mmmm. probably it would be a mix of Paris Combo and Charlotte Gainsbourg. If it were a song: 'The Songs That We Sing'.  If it were a movie, that's pretty hard- I think it would have to be a mix of Peyton Place and Portrait of Jennie: Peyton Place for color, feeling, and nostalgia, Portrait of Jennie for it's magical realism. 

TSP: Very nice combination of films. If you had to choose some of your current faves, what would be a few etsy shoppes that are ace on your list?
JANET:  Paris Breakfast, Viv Strauss, dottie angel, and 2Dy4.
    

TSP:  Where do you see your Studio in the not-too-distant future?
JANET:  In five years I hope that I can slow down a little with original work- it's a lot of work!  I'm lucky enough to have an art publisher that will be reproducing my work into a line of cards and posters, so I'm hoping that will help out a little. If I'm really dreaming here, I would love to move to the Canadian east coast and have a much larger studio space maybe even a little gallery.

TSP:  Congratulations on the line of minis! I don’t think the Canadian east coast/gallery idea is too far-fetched… your work is gorgeous. Speaking of which, one of my favorite pieces of yours is full of lovely colors and light. Walk TSP through how you come up with an idea for a piece.
JANET:  That painting that you quite like- Cafe Americano- I think came about after I watched Gilda....for the tenth time. I had that whole Argentinian vibe going on, but it likely comes across as European.  What a painting starts out as, and what it ends up as, is always a mystery to me.
TSP:  But you know what they say: Mystery is at the heart of creativity!
     

My warmest and sincerest thanks to Janet for taking time away from her gesso’d canvas to share a little bit about herself and her work with TSP. Can’t wait to see what she’ll come up with next…