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Southern artist falling for the North

Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Tuktoyaktuk (Mar 17/03) - After travelling between Salmon Arm, B.C., Tuktoyaktuk and Inuvik for the past few years, artist Janet Mildner-Lie finally joined her husband in Tuk in December.

Janet marvels at the unique and pristine beauty of the North, and has wanted to move here for quite a while, but personal commitments had kept her in B.C.

News/North: Although you have just become a resident, you are no stranger to the North are you?

Janet Mildner-Lie: No. Tom moved up to Tuk two years ago and I stayed in Salmon Arm because his mum was there and she is quite elderly. She passed away this last summer so then after I got her place looked after I got my place packed up, rented it out and I was free to come up here full-time.

So I have been living in Tuk and I haven't had a job outside the home. I'm just doing my art work and doing a little bit of relaxing and checking out the land. I'm super excited to see the ocean this summer and see the water, because I've only ever been up here in the winter. Maybe it's just always winter here, I don't know.

N/N: Oh, don't worry. It will come, you just have to be very patient.

JML: I have accused Tom of lying to me to get me up here, but I have never, ever seen any water up here other than through the ice on the ice road.

N/N: Tell me about your art, what sort of work do you do?

JML: I paint, primarily in acrylic because they are very environmentally-friendly. I do a bit of water colours and I would rather paint on the wall or on furniture or on anything wood. I love wood. And typically I enjoy painting more functional items, I guess because I am a practical person and I like something that can be put to another use too, rather than just looking good. And besides that I do beadwork and stained glass.

N/N: How long have you been an artist?

JML: Well I have dabbled all my life, but about 10 years ago I got serious with it.

N/N: And have you been making a living off of it?

JML: No, I have never had the opportunity to make a living off of it. I have made money off of it, but not a living. I have too many other things, kids, grandkids, mother-in-law, a mother. This is the first time in my life I will be able to just devote my time to it, so I am really excited about that. That's what I want to do.

N/N: Have you changed your style at all since you came up here?

JML: Well, I am changing what I paint. I am painting certainly more Arctic scenes here, and every day since the sun has come I just marvel at the skies here. I don't know where you get such beautiful skies, and the colours are just so long. On the Prairies you get beautiful skies, but they certainly don't last as long as they do here. And I am so impressed by that.

N/N: Do you paint the skies?

JML: I hadn't before, but I think here I probably will because it is a big part of what is here. I like landscapes, I like wildlife, and the sky is just a big, big part of it. When you look outside there is just so much sky, so it would be hard not to paint that. And it's so beautiful.

N/N: Where do you get your inspiration for your work?

JML: Inspiration is just everywhere. Just looking at a flower or looking at a leaf or looking at the shadows on the snow. I find all of that just so exciting, and the older I get, I think the more exciting.

N/N: Who is living up in Tuk with you, just you and your husband?

JML: Yes. I have one daughter, Suzanne, living in Inuvik. She is in there about a year now and she is going to be here for quite a spell yet. She quite likes it up here and it's been a super experience for her. I have another daughter Jen who was up there for two years, and is now in Calgary going to school. But both of them found it was such a growing experience.

N/N: Can you see yourself staying for a while?

JML: Oh yes. I don't want to go south. I want to see it all, live it all. I quite like it and if I can like it now when it's cold and through the darkness I am quite sure that I will love the rest of it. And I like the cold and the wind, weather excites me just like anything outside, so I'm sure I am going to enjoy it here.

N/N: You just said you want to see it all. Do you have any plans to start travelling throughout the North or are there certain places you would like to see?

JML: I really want to go to Holman and Sachs Harbour, that's two places I really, really want to go to.

N/N: Why is that?

JML: Just from what I have heard about them. They are unique places and you are not going to find them anywhere else in the whole world. And if we ever did move down south I am sure we would have the chance to come back. It's nothing to plan a trip to Holman. I would like to see all the little communities.

N/N: Are you hoping to make a career as an artist up here?

JML: I would like to. And of course you never know where that goes. The expression 'starving artist', I think, is quite true. But the longer I can devote my time to it, the more I will be able to nail down what my particular style is. My style has changed a lot over the years and I think I am getting where I can see what I want to do. I try not to look at a lot of other artist's work because it's so easy to imitate other people, but then you don't know where you are going.

N/N: So you are still developing your own personal style? Can you describe how that happens?

JML: I think by becoming confident enough to try new things and to do what you like rather than going with what's popular or what someone else has made successful. Having enough confidence to do what you like to do.

N/N: Tell me about the murals you just painted at the Eskimo Inn. How would you describe them?

JML: It's like you're looking out through two windows out onto the land with the water and ice and snow and the muskox on one and polar bears on the other. It took about 25 hours. I did a couple of quick smaller paintings to get an idea of what I wanted then I just did it freehand on the wall. I went in when the restaurant closed at 9 p.m. and worked late, which was a change for me because I am not usually a late person.

N/N: How is living in Tuk? Have you been welcomed into the community?

JML: Yes, we have met some really nice people there. I haven't met near as many as I would like to, and I really hope to become involved with some people there and learn to do some traditional work, making moccasins and mukluks, that kind of thing. I really would love to do that. It's one of my next projects.