OUTLOOK - On an acreage on highway 15 sits the custom-designed home of Mark and Janet Gross, a house Janet designed with the Edwardian era in mind. “I always had an interest in that,” she said. “I built a little model out of Cheerios boxes after I had the floor plan and took that to a draftsman who drew up the plans.”
Once the outside was framed, the couple did all the inside work and this is where more of Janet’s talents are on display in the furniture, mouldings, ceilings and light fixtures.
She originally trained as a dental therapist but there were few opportunities in the places she was living. “I was hands-on farming,” she remarked. “I did field work and everything because Mark was also running a trucking business at the same time.” What the dental industry missed out on, the world of art gained, as Janet turned her attention to creating one-of-a-kind pieces.
She was introduced to woodwork through her father who was a talented craftsman. “He was a master at lathe work in particular,” Janet stated. “He was internationally recognized.”
He and a cousin would finish houses in the winter to supplement farming income and this is where Janet got her initiation. “I used to tag along,” she explained, “and as I got older I picked up some things and they taught me stuff. By the time we left there I could build kitchen cupboards.” She added to those skills with antique restoration and repair, and also started building antique replica furniture.
Those talents are on display all throughout her home, but it is creating pieces in her specially designed workshop that has her focus now, and much of it is centered on making original art from old pianos.
It started with an instrument intended for their son. When it came time for him to take it they discovered it was in poor condition. “It just wasn’t restorable,” Janet said. “In these old pianos, mechanisms get dry and everything breaks. Hammers are broken, straps are broken and they’re just not restorable at a reasonable cost.”
Having seen other artists strip these down, she decided to give it a try. “I was noticing people were tearing apart pianos and making desks and whatever out of the cases, and some were taking the inside parts and making sculptures. So I looked at those and thought I could try it.”
It gave her a chance to continue working at scrimshaw, art where a highly polished surface is scratched and then rubbed with ink that seeps into the scratches to reveal the art. It is associated with sailors who would use whale bone or walrus tusk. Janet, who once raised bison, started doing scrimshaw on bison bone. Again, her father played a role. “I knew about scrimshaw because my dad had a friend that did scrimshaw on piano ivories and mammoth tusk,” Janet shared. “I quite admired his work and thought I could do that.”
To make scrimshaws Janet uses a variety of tools including dental instruments, but says the tip of an X-Acto knife is her tool of choice. It is important to her to stay true to the authenticity of the art. “Manual is the traditional way,” she explained. “Some people are using rotary tools, laser and computers, but to me that’s not authentic. I think it should be handmade, an authentic art form.”
Taking pianos apart also gave her access to interior mechanisms that were the source of her next inspiration; making sculptures. Instead of free standing ones, she mounts hers in shadow boxes to make assemblage art. “I thought it was much better to present something that someone can see as art that you can hang on the wall. You can make beautiful frames which I think is part of the art form.”
All of it, including the wood for frames, has to come from the piano. “At first I used pieces as they were, but then began cutting them apart and reassembling them. My principle is everything in that picture has to come out of a piano.”
She likes to add a touch of whimsy to each piece in the form of a little twist or joke, and finds she sometimes gets going on certain themes. Many pieces featured at the 2022 River and Rail ArtVenture involved robots. Her art for the 2023 event will feature a lot of angels and fairies.
All of this work comes from the hands of an artist who is also a musician. She admits it makes taking apart pianos rather bittersweet. “A generation before, every house had a piano. You think about all the memories made around those pianos. People used to make their own music but now the history and memories have all faded away and these poor old pianos are unusable.” But that’s where an artist can step in and find new purpose. “To me, what I’m doing is honoring them a little bit to salvage what I can.”
It’s an extension of the philosophy she brings to all her restoration work. “When you’re restoring antiques that’s a bit of what you are doing, you are honoring it. An antique to me is about its history; where it’s been and what it has seen.” It’s the reason she calls her business Honour Woodworks.
When it comes to her work, Janet does it all; sourcing materials, naming, matting, mounting, framing and even cutting her own glass. But there is one thing she does not do and that is keep track of her hours. “That would be really foolish,” she said with a laugh. “It’s ridiculous how much time I spend on each piece.”
Like other artists, she couldn’t begin to charge a dollar value to reflect the amount of time invested. “It’s a labor of love,” she shared. “I’m happy to cover costs. It’s hard to part with pieces sometimes but part of the pleasure in doing it is sharing it and seeing somebody’s delight in it.”
While pianos are similar, they are not identical, so Janet carefully considers the ones she works with. Last summer Outlook’s Equinox Theatre offered her an old piano when they moved to a new location and Janet made a wreath for an auction that was part of Equinox’s “A Celebration of Christmas” in December.
Bob and Sandy Stephenson bid on it after its angel theme caught music teacher Sandy’s eye.” I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it, especially the differences in the wings. I was intrigued to say the least. Then I read about the strings and knew I had to have the most clever wreath I had ever seen.”
Janet designed her home and workshop specifically to give her space she needed to pursue her art. While she admits rural living is a marketing challenge for an artist, she enjoys the tranquility it provides. “I find it relaxing to do art out here. When you’re doing something you love, time just passes. You look at the clock and wonder what happened.”
From the moment you walk into the door of Mark and Janet’s home you see the touch of an artist and carpenter. It is a great thing indeed that down in her workshop Janet is creating pieces art lovers can display in their own homes and appreciate her craftsmanship.
Tables, boxes and trays of reclaimed pieces sit ready for the next creative expression. Her love of the process shines through in how she sees its potential. “I just enjoy being able to salvage the most mundane bits and turn them into something new.”
