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As a 4-year-old child, in her native Warsaw, Poland, quilter/mosaics/jewellery artisan, Joanna Hankus was raised in her early years by her maternal grandmother, an artist/teacher, who encouraged her art-making and crafting. And she recalls, as a 7-year-old in grade one, conceiving of and making a drawing of her mother sitting at work at her desk—a work of art that was so convincing that her teacher held it up and praised it in the class, then showed it in other classes as well. And that kind of early reinforcement prompted artistic activities throughout her early schooling, including drawing and painting and crocheting and knitting. In high school Hankus felt a strong attraction to fashion design and drew models and clothing; and a close creative friend and her explored interior design, knitting, sweater design and quilting. After high school, she married and she and her husband moved on to study at university—Law for her and Trading/Economy/Statistics or him. They had been taking English classes through high school and university and, with her father having moved to Chicago, they decided in 1989 to continue their university education in the U.S. It was soon apparent that getting citizenship there would be a very lengthy road and so, with friends living in Burlington and info that citizenship could be a quicker proposition, they moved to Canada. And very quickly found employment way across the province, managing a motel in Gananoque. However, the isolation and the 24-hour a day work attention that her and hubby shared took its toll and they moved on from it, settling in Hamilton in 1992. Hankus found work in semi-conductor electronics as a planner—learning on the job and in courses at Mohawk College—employment she stayed in for decades to follow. Having joined the Hamilton Artists Association, she created numerous paintings in the early years. And when her two sons showed up, she ensured they had arts activities in their young years–with one son, Michael eventually pursuing architecture and photography (he has been a participant in the studio tour in the past). Her production dropped off to one quilt over the later years but, knowing that she “just had to be artistic”, she joined the Hamilton Artists Association and returned to arts and crafts, doing lots of painting including copying three paintings by surrealist, Rene Magritte; and creating an abstract painting piece that included semi-conductor structures behind a set of simple repetitive black and white human figures. And took photography and mosaic courses at the Burlington Art Gallery. |
 She ultimately, moved on to adding artistic/craft elements to recycled functional objects like furniture, pillows and drapes—changing their look/giving them flare”; and making a big return to quilting—plus adding mosaics (table tops, frames for mirrors, etc. working with glass, ceramics, precious and natural stones) to her crafting roster. And being involved in craft shows/fairs and accepting commissions.
Joanna will be showing her crafts at her son’s place in Bancroft at the upcoming studio tour. And you can see an ongoing display of her works on Instagram at boho_by_jo or contact her at joannahankus67@gmail.com (Profile writing and photo by Allan O’Marra) |
