Meet Artist Janice Tanton

Last Sunday afternoon I was in the midst of watching what would turn out to be the longest baseball game in Toronto Blue Jay’s history(!) when I learned that one of my favourite local Alberta artists was actually painting live at the exquisite Canada House Gallery in Banff until 4 pm. My beloved Jays would have to wait (and they DID…thanks guys!) as such opportunities to meet talented artists painting in situ do not come around every day. So I hopped in my Jeep and made the short drive to Banff in time to meet Janice. I’m SO glad I did!

I discovered Janice’s works through Twitter one day earlier this summer. I like to follow the Alberta gallery scene and I learned of an opening for a local artist in Calgary and Banff. I clicked on the link and was immediately whisked into a stunningly spiritual world of brightly painted horses and mystical, magical landscapes. Janice’s works spoke to me immediately! As many of you know who follow my travels, my favourite local haunt is the stoic Morley Mission Church located in the middle of a sweeping grassland whose horizon is the Rockies. I love to go there to sit and think and reflect as it is a quiet, beautiful place. I also love to go there to catch site of the local Morley wild horses who roam up and down the windswept plains near the church. Their long legs, easy grace and wild spirit touch my very soul. Janice has managed to capture that wild spirit in her paintings like no other artist I have seen while here in Alberta. I visited her website and fantastic blog to learn more about this talented artist.

As I read about her time as artist in residence on Haida Gwaii (her piece above is of this truly magical place), I learned also of Janice’s recent struggle with cancer. I was touched to learn how this struggle has shifted her perspective and affected her work in ways she could not imagine. I was relieved to read of her recovery, a story that parallels the steely bravery my dear sister Jen revealed when faced with such a frightening, often devastating foe. Janice, like Jen, has come out the other side of this illness with a greater appreciation for the small miracles of the every day, and I have to thank her here for generously sharing her talent and story with me so readily last week at the gallery. You are an inspiration! And one day soon one of your magnificent paintings will come home with me, to serve as a constant reminder of the beauty that surrounds us if we open our eyes and see.