John Janzen Nature Centre

Genevieve Simms is an illustrator living in Edmonton. Shape, colour, and a figure’s relationship to its environment are some of her current areas of interest and investigation. Significant sources of inspiration include graphics and images that serve an informative purpose. Though most of her illustration work is in the editorial realm, poster design might be her one true illustration love. Painting has become an extension of the poster design process where colour is layered in large flat areas according to a basic design and then subdivided and layered beyond what would be possible with printmaking, and more specifically, silk-screening.

The artwork depicts the namesake of The Nature Centre, former City of Edmonton Parks and Recreation Superintendent, John Janzen. The design for the artwork began by arranging the basic symbols of the portrait, flora, fauna, and water, breaking them down into graphic shapes, colours, and patterns. The composition has been divided into three parts, each measuring 1.8 m by 1.2 m. The overall composition takes you through the picture on a meandering path similar to the flow of a river around a bend. The painting began with a basic linear pattern on a blue background to depict waves in the water. This basic pattern is also reminiscent of writing on paper. As a policy maker, one of John Janzen’s first steps in contributing to the creation of parkland in Edmonton’s river valley would have been through communicating these intentions in words and on paper. Urban planning, even in the case of urban natural areas, requires some degree of using grids, pattern, and order. Grid-like patterns have been repeated throughout the composition. Patterns are something shared by cities and nature, and are used here to show transitions and harmony between the two. As quickly as grids are created in the composition, they are allowed to be interrupted. This sort of relationship is necessary to create areas that are wild and areas that are tame, paying tribute to the careful balance of maintaining natural areas within a city that can be enjoyed by all residents. The extraordinary flora and fauna in the composition are derived from very ordinary and common counterparts reminding us to be amazed by the valuable resource we have in Edmonton’s natural areas.