Seventh-generation Newfoundlander Janet Davis is proud of her family’s involvement in the fishery that began when her ancestors came from England and settled on the north side of Bonavista Bay.
Today, although not involved in the industry, Davis displays this pride in her fishery heritage through art. An accomplished artist, with many exhibitions to her credit, she works from her Norton’s Cove Studio in Brookfield.
Following her graduation from high school, Davis completed a two-year Textile Studies program at Cabot College, St. John’s. For the next couple of years she tried a more traditional way of making a living when she went to work as a cook on her father’s ship.
However, with her interest still very much in art, she went on to the Nova Scotia college of Arts and Design where in 1998, she earned a BFA degree in the co-discipline of textiles and printmaking.
She returned to her home, established her studio and began an art career that predominately features salt fish.
Why salt fish?
“Without salt fish I would not be here,” says Davis.
“Salt fish is what brought everyone to Newfoundland. I think it is the biggest stand alone Newfoundland icon. Before the days of refrigeration, fish had to be salted and shipped out to make a living. I am the seventh generation of my family in Newfoundland. We are here because my ancestors came to make a living from salt fish.”
Last Sunday Davis was at Ryan’s Premises, Bonavista, with her Salt Fish exhibit. One room was completely dominated by an 8 x 10 ft. hooked rug on a huge birch frame, featuring dozens of salt fish.
“It took me five months to complete. Apart from sleeping and eating, it was all I did during that time,” recalls Davis.
The materials for the fish are recycled clothing received from family and friends, while between each fish, twigs are intertwined,
The rug brought lots of attention from visitors to the exhibit. One group from Ontario was completely fascinated by the work and by the topic. They compared it to exhibits they had seen at the Ottawa Museum of Civilization, noting it was a far more important and suitable exhibit than many that are now display at the national museum.
“To think millions of dollars are spent on art that people can’t understand and we have a subject so important to the history of our country as this; it should be in a museum,” says the visitor.
In the main room the exhibit, entitled Lineage, featured seven, oil on plywood paintings of individual salt fish hanging on a clothes line. Each fish, with a different seascape background, represented a generation of the artist’s family in Newfoundland.
Other images of salt fish completed the exhibit which attracted many viewers throughout the afternoon.
Davis has had many exhibits in the province. She credits much of her success to the continuing support she gets from her husband, son, family and her community. Laughing, she says her salt fish rug wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for her husband Duke constructing the huge frame.
The artist is currently working on a small hooked rug commissioned by neighbours in Bonavista North. Unlike many of the rugs being hooked today of landscapes and views, it is more of a Newfoundland traditional geometric pattern.
With the purchase of a sail boat this year, Davis says the trips she, her husband and son take, will not only be for pleasure, but will give her many ideas for future art creations.
“We will be spending lots of time out on the water and I am expecting to use more images of small islands off Wesleyville and of marine things —not necessarily fish — but the ocean itself, which is spectacular,” says Davis.
More of the work of Davis can be seen on her website at www.nortonscovestudio.com.
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