Janet Shaw-Russell: Sheltered

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Janet Shaw-Russell, "Heart on a Sleeve 2," 2013

coloured pencil on a sleeve pattern, 30” x 39”Photo credit: Kevin Bertram

Opening Reception: Friday, January 24th at 7pm. Free admission, all ages are welcome to attend. Both artists will be in attendance.

Janet Shaw-Russell examines our desire for permanence in an ephemeral world. She explores life’s crossroads in order to discover how we navigate change. Her art practice includes drawing, printmaking and sculpture.  With graphite and coloured pencils Janet draws on the delicate tissue-paper of sewing patterns and the translucent membrane of vellum. Home and the body become metaphors for the life cycle, illuminating the paradox of human fragility and resilience.  Janet uncovers the universal in personal transitions, such as when a family home is sold or a loved one dies. She mines past events for their significance today – a garment factory fire, the fight for women’s suffrage or World War One – blending history into images of the present.

Canadian demographics shift and baby-boomers age. Seniors live in empty nests, retire, downsize and move into “homes”. As the past recedes, the present beckons and Janet has added a focus on the art of aging.  Answering her desire to draw from life, Janet has partnered with biologists, neuroscientists and anthropology professors to expand her scientific knowledge and connect her art with a wide variety of disciplines.

Born and raised in Winnipeg, Janet has lived in southwestern Manitoba since 1983, first in Virden and then Brandon.  Her work has been exhibited throughout Manitoba, from Brandon’s Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Winnipeg’s Martha St. Studio and MHC Gallery, to the community galleries of Wasagaming, Churchill, Gimli and other centres.   Janet is a co-founder of the women’s art collective, Drawn Together, comprised of ten Manitoba artists from Carberry, Brandon, Holmfield, Kenton, and St. Pierre-Jolys.   She is a former MAWA Foundation mentorship mentee (2010-2011) and Manitoba Arts Council Creation Grant recipient (2013, 2017 and 2018).