About the Artist

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			About the Artist
			Biographical

			Janet Fountain (nee Semmens) was born in 1956 at Colac in Victoria, Australia. She was raised in small country towns (Warrion, Alvie, and Manangatang) before her parents moved to the port city of Geelong. She studied science at The University of Melbourne and then found employment in university administration. In 1984 she married Chris Fountain, a postgraduate metallurgist. The Fountains moved to Mount Isa in 1987, where Janet worked on technical computer programmes for the mining industry. It was in Mount Isa she attended the Flying Arts School (three weekend workshops per year) and met dedicated artists. (The difficult life accepted by artists gave her pause for thought.) On weekends she painted industrial scenes of Mount Isa Mines, and alternated this with landscapes of the area. In 2002 they moved to Perth in Western Australia. From then on, Janet worked full time on her art. She attended a weekly life drawing group and from December 2005 she studied movement at dance classes and rehearsals with Perth City Ballet. These studies developed into paintings evoking movement. Subsequent changes in the fortunes of mining companies, saw the Fountains move interstate and overseas. In 2009 the Fountains moved to Belo Horizonte in Brazil for 13 months because of Chris's work. There Janet painted mainly musicians from the free lunchtime concerts, until Janet's health failed. So the Fountains returned to Perth, Australia and she ceased making art for 10 years. Chris was posted to Salt Lake City in 2019. There, Janet picked up her ink pen and began to make drawings again. She started an art journal of their home during the Covid pandemic. From 2021 she drew, and painted, the Fox Squirrels that lived in the backyard. In August 2025, the Fountains returned to Perth. Based in Subiaco, Janet explores local settings and life around her for inspiration. Janet has participated in seven solo exhibitions and one group exhibition in Australia. She has work in the State of Queensland collection (landscape panel paintings in acrylic on canvas) and in the National Gallery of Australia print collection (lino prints).
Studies

2009 - 2010			Atelier Selma Weissmann		Belo Horizonte, Brazil
2005 - 2009			Dance movement studies		Perth City Ballet (Director: Diana Waldron)
2001 - 2006			Invitation Workshops		New South Wales (Mentor: Mervyn Moriarty)
2004			Flying Arts Living the Landscape		outback Queensland (Tutor: Mandy Martin)
1998 - 2002			weekend workshops, 3 per year		Mount Isa (Flying Arts)
1998 - 1999			CAE Summer School		Melbourne (Tutor: Mervyn Moriarty)
1997 - 1998			Life Drawing		Linden, St Kilda (Tutor: Anselm van Rood)
1992 - 1996			McGregor Summer School		Toowoomba (University of Southern Qld)
1991 -1996			weekend workshops, 3 per year		Mount Isa (Flying Arts)
1991 - 1996			Figure Studies		Mount Isa Life Drawing Group
					(evolved into Stack, the contemporary art group active 1994-97)

Solo Exhibitions

15 Apr to 30 May 2026			Wild Ducks in Public Places		Gallery 48, 2/48 The Strand, Townsville, Australia
May to Jun 2021			Covid Drawings		Gallery 48, 2/48 The Strand, Townsville, Australia
Jul to Aug 2011			Brazilian Experience		Artspace, Nedlands, Perth, Australia
Jan 2009			Dancing in Paint		Kurb Gallery, Northbridge, Perth, Australia
8 Mar to 15 May 2008			Drawing on Thought		Gallery 48, 2/48 The Strand, Townsville, Australia
May to 20 Jun 2004			Onions		Cafe Gallery, Fremantle Arts Centre, Fremantle, Australia
Mar 2001			Arriving at Colour		Mount Isa Potters’ Gallery, Mount Isa, Australia
Apr 1999			Copper Smelter Paintings, Lino Prints and The Rest		Mount Isa Potters’ Gallery, Mount Isa, Australia

Duo Exhibition

Feb 2000			Artists in the Spinifex		Mount Isa Potters’ Gallery, Mount Isa, Australia
			(Landscapes with fellow artist, Vince Bray)

Group Exhibitions (touring)

2000 to 2001			Cutting Comments – Contemporary Linocuts 1995-1998
					McClelland Gallery, Langwarrin, Vic (July 2000)
					Gold Treasury Museum, Melbourne (10 Oct - 1 Nov 2001)
2001			Thirty Years of Flying Arts
					Mount Isa Civic Centre (26 April – 11 May)
					Brisbane Powerhouse (26 Oct – 23 Nov)
1997			Mining The Mind – The psychology of climate control
					Townsville, Umbrella Studio (February 1997)
					Mount Isa Civic Centre ( March 1997)

Awards and Prizes
			Painting
				2026	Finalist, Minnawarra Art Awards (Armadle, Perth)
				2008	Finalist, Black Swan Prize for Portraiture (Perth)
				2001	Winner, Easel based painting, Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards (Gladstone Regional Art Gallery and Museum, Qld)
				2000	Winner, Tree of Knowledge - Australians at Work Award, Barcaldine Art Competition & Exhibition (Qld)
				1998	Winner, Shell Art Award, Northern Region, Flying Arts Exhibition (Cairns)
				1992	Winner, Open Contemporary, Mount Isa Rotary Art Show
				1991	Winner, Realist Landscape, Mount Isa Rotary Art Show

			Drawing	1999	Winner, Drawing, Ernest Henry Memorial Art Show (Cloncurry)
				1998	Winner, Drawing, Ernest Henry Memorial Art Show (Cloncurry)
				1996	Winner, Drawing, Mount Isa Rotary Art Show
				1995	Winner, Drawing, Mount Isa Rotary Art Show

			Prints
				2002	Finalist, Silk Cut Acquisitive Award for linocut prints (Melbourne)
				1997	Finalist, Silk Cut Acquisitive Award for linocut prints (Melbourne)

			Sculpture
				1993	First Prize, Sculpture, Mount Isa Rotary Art Show








Collections
			National Gallery of Australia (print collection)			(2 linocut prints)
			State Government of Queensland
					Mount Isa Courthouse (3-panel canvas landscape)
					Land and Resources Tribunal, Brisbane (4 panel canvas landscape)
			Private collections in Australia and overseas

References

	Allied Industries Pty Ltd, An Australian Art Collection 2014, Calendar (featured artist for September)
	Duraloid Pty Ltd, 1979 Silk Cut Award for Linocut Prints, Catalogue, p. 11
	Duraloid Pty Ltd, 2002 Silk Cut Award for Linocut Prints, Catalogue, p. 8
	Flying Arts Inc., 1998 Annual Report, Cover Image (front and back)
	Fountain, Janet and Dutney, Mark, Working In with the Day Job, Flying Arts Gazette, Issue 80, September 1999, pp. 12 -13
	Grabski, Siri, Isa captured for Brisbane complex, The North West Star, September 3, 1999, p. 3
	Jenkins, Lesley, Australian Art Stories, Flying Arts Gazette, Issue 86, October, pp. 9-12
	Jensen, Ivy, A fountain of colour, The North West Star, March 28, 2001, p. 5
	McNeill, Sarah, Face to face with portraits, Subiaco Post, September 13, 2008, p. 47
	McNeill, Sarah, Going solo in Brazil, Subiaco Post, July 16, 2011, p. 63
	Nayton, Jennie, Gamblen, Philip, Williams, Cecile, Fountain, Janet, and Sears, Clim, Member News, ArtSource Newsletter,
		Issue December 2009 – March 2010, pp 29-30
	O’Donohue, Anne, Mining the Mind, Periphery, Issue 31, May 1997 pp. 22-23
	O'Donohue, Anne, Mining the Mind, Eyeline, Issue 33, autumn/winter 1997, pp. 43-44
	O'Sullivan, Jill, The Essence of This Earth, Flying Arts Gazette, Issue 85, July 2001, pp. 10-13
	Silver, Anneke, Stackarts, Erotica and The Outback, Periphery, Issue 27, May 1996 pp. 33-35
	Taylor, Cheryl, Staking a claim: Eight Mt Isa novels, Published online by Cambridge University Press, 03 May 2013, pp. 96-109
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/queensland-review/article/abs/staking-a-claim-eight-mt-isa-novels/A50A32E561C2DD56A2797FDB2095F143
	Taylor, Cheryl, Staking a claim: Eight Mt Isa novels, Queensland Review, 20(1), June 2013, pp. 96-109

	Where ducks become fine art, Weekend section, Townsville Bulletin, April 11, 2026, p..08
	North-West artist chosen to show in Cairns, The North West Star, September 24, 1998, p. 1
	An array of colour, The North West Star, April 19, 1999, p. 5
	Chance for art promotion, The North West Star, September 7, 2001, p. 5
	Isans represent Flying Arts, The North West Star, November 14, 2001, p. 5