Janet K. MacKay
Janet K. MacKay’s colorful, vibrant canvases reflect the world around her - a world of water, light and beauty. They transport the viewer to a peaceful, inspiring place, for a moment of relaxation reminiscent of past holidays.
Janet K. MacKay - A Place to Call Home
Date and place of birth
Janet K. MacKay was born in 1952 in Ottawa, where she lived until 2020, when she moved to her lakeside home and studio in Sharbot Lake, Ontario, a true paradise for canoeing, swimming and hiking enthusiasts.
Background and career
Like most artists, she has been intrigued by art since early childhood. Growing up in Ottawa, Canada, she spent every spare moment drawing on any scrap of paper she could find and visiting the National Gallery. After earning a Fine Arts degree specializing in painting and sculpture from McMaster University, Janet continued her education and pursued a career in graphic and industrial design. In these careers, her artistic background stood her in good stead and eventually led her back to her vocation as a painter and a sculptor.
Her work, her art
Janet's oil paintings capture the essence of lakeside landscapes in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes, offering an authentically Canadian experience. As one admires them, the viewer is transported to peaceful, inspiring places, evoking memories of relaxing holidays. Her depictions of boats gliding on shimmering reflections on the water's surface are both vibrant and luminous.
“ The natural environment that surrounds me inspires my paintings.(...) I often travel many miles looking for that perfect landscape, sky or reflection, only to return and find it in my own backyard. » — Janet K. MacKay
Taking up paddling a few years ago, has had a profound influence on Janet's paintings. A canoe or a kayak can often be found in Janet's paintings. She loves being out on the water, where she gains a completely different vantage point, looking back at the shore with its rich reflections. Her series of paintings, entitled “Skinny Dipping in Canada,” are a fun, playful and somewhat mischievous interpretation of the lazy days of a Canadian summer, when clothing is optional. The canoes in that series, and the garments draped across their gunnels, provide a rich palette of colours reflected in water, and it is left to the viewer to imagine where the owners of that clothing might be.
Janet's vibrant and colourful canvases reflect the world around her – a world of water, light and beauty.
“ This beautiful world and its inhabitants excites me so much, that I want to capture the power of this feeling and share it through my art. I try to convey a moment in time that is precious, beautiful and inspirational.(...) I still see the beauty and believe in the law of attraction – that if you focus on what is good, it brings more good. »
Janet K. MacKay is represented by the Au P'tit Bonheur Art Gallery since May 2024, exclusively for Quebec.
