A Lesson in Practicing What You Preach

Janie ZwackLike most woman, Janie Zwack, BEd'01 likes to accessorize. But the pieces that make up her accessories are just from a local jeweler. She takes trips to garbage dumps to collect scrap metal, and she heads out to the woods to gather plants, feathers and bones to make her masterpieces.

"I always knew I wanted to be a jeweler, so I started taking evening classes at ACAD," recalls Zwack. While there, she was commissioned for her first piece, and the work has been constant ever since. Her work is currently being featured in an exhibition at the Triangle Gallery downtown. It's a showcase of leading artists in the fields of jewelry and body adornments

Not only is Zwack a working artist - she also works as an art teacher. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts from ACAD under her belt, Zwack enrolled at the U of C to complete get an education degree. Yearning to surround herself with others who shared in her love of art and education after graduation, Zwack began teaching at the Alberta High School of Fine Arts in Okotoks. The passions run in her bloodline too; Zwack's parents are retired teachers, and her brother is a professional photographer.

"It's essential that an art teacher is a practicing artist," says Zwack. "A gifted student will quickly sniff out their art teacher to see if they're one of them." In the five years she's been at the school, Zwack has already made quite an impression. She was instrumental in creating a student art gallery on campus and online. The students are now receiving much more notoriety, much of which has come in the form of scholarships to post-secondary schools.

Promoting art is a part of Zwack's everyday life. "My house is like an art gallery, filled with my work and those of other artists." Take one look at the masterpiece dangling from her neck and you'll see she's also a walking art gallery herself. "I always wear my own art. It's one of the pleasures of what I do - wearable art."

By Sally Jade Powis