by Stephanie Haines
With Grand Horizons in full swing, we turn our attention to the Janigan Studio, where our latest artist, Jonne Mintern has several paintings on display. I sat down with the talented visual artist to learn about her, her paintings, and her passion for art.
Where are you from? How long have you lived in Ottawa?
I was born in Oshawa, moved to Georgetown at 11 years old, then moved to Ottawa in 1974.
Which of your paintings is your favourite?
My favourite painting… it changes. Lately my favourite has been the one that’s at the foot of our basement stairs. It took me eight years to find something that would look good at the top and the bottom of the stairs. The canvas is four feet wide, six feet tall. Title is ‘Alsace-Lorraine’. It’s just a picture I found in a magazine, then folded it here and there until it gave the right balance for the size of the canvas. Once I had this, it only took three months to finish the painting. When you get to the third-bottom step, you feel like you could keep going right into the painting and walk down the cobblestone pathway.
When did you first start painting?
I started painting in 1985 when I was a working mother with four little kids; my Mom gave me her paints and I decided to try it. My first course basically taught me how to hold a brush. After that, I painted however made sense to me. I’m a little embarrassed when people think I’m an artist. I just hack away at it and it seems to work. My first painting was of my Dad in his backyard, surveying his kingdom. Then life got pretty busy with other stuff and I didn’t paint again until 2001. Since then, I’ve been on and off, depending on which hobby works its way up in my to-do list.
What inspires you?
My background is mathematics and solving logic problems. Since I first learned what a computer was (in high school), I was hooked on studying computational analysis and design logic. But I’ve also always been interested in creating ‘artistic things’. The only courses I’ve taken were for a degree in math. For any artistic things (of which painting is one), I just figured them out on my own. About painting specifically, I suppose I like it because every painting is different in some way and every painting energizes my brain differently.
"I think a painting should stir an emotion inside you. If it does, then it will make a wonderful focal point in your home."
What “aim” or goal do you have when you paint?
I want the viewers to feel like they are part of the picture, to feel like they could step right into it and get a strong sense of it all around them. I think a painting should stir an emotion inside you. If it does, then it will make a wonderful focal point in your home. Every time you look at it, you’ll get this wonderful, unexpected feeling that just raises you up and makes you feel good.
Do you have any other stories to share about your art?
Oh yes. I have an artistic daughter who wanted to paint with me when she was about six or eight years old. We found a picture of a bunny on a Christmas card. She painted the right side and I did the left. Because she’s right-handed and I’m left-handed, it worked out well for us to paint together. That painting is now hanging in her home with all her other art.
One last story – I decided to paint one of my Mom and Dad with Rexy, our dog, from a black and white photo of them on a blanket at the beach in Madoc. I had an awful time getting their skin, faces and sunglasses to look good. After seven layers of paint, I gave up.
This painting is now affectionately known as one of ‘the aliens’. My Mom would be aghast. Only the dog looks good. Not one of my better efforts.
