It’s never too late to express your artist within.
Experiencing first-hand the journey from one career to another, Guelph artist and art teacher, Janice Mason Steeves, shines a light on the creative paths of older artists in her debut book, BLOOM: On Becoming an Artist Later in Life.
Set to launch Sunday at the University of Guelph Arboretum, the book highlights how creativity later life can be far more than just a pastime in people’s retirement.
Mason Steeves says timing for the launch couldn’t be better.
“There are so many baby boomers out there who are looking for some way of finding meaning in their lives,” she said.
“I’m so excited to share this. And to have my launch at the Arboretum, it’s such a beautiful space and one that is very related to my topic.”
Mason Steeves says the idea for the book first sprang out of her teaching work.
“In 2015, I was doing an art residency in Spain. I was teaching a workshop there. One night I had a dream. I so seldom remember my dreams, but this one, I remember,” she said.
“I was standing in front of group of people. I was holding up a book in my hand and I remember talking to them about it."
This book, however, became much more than just a dream for Mason Steeves.
“It just stayed with me. It was odd. It was like a helium balloon that was following me, attached to the back of my head. I thought it was weird, so I didn’t want to tell anyone about it,” she said.
“It was like a spirit of a book was obviously wanting me to write it. I would check Amazon and Google to see if someone had written about this before, about finding art later in life. There was nothing similar to this. And so, I realized, this was mine to do.”
In 2019, Mason Steeves put out a notice on Facebook, asking if anyone, between 60 and 80, was interested in telling her their stories about coming to art later in life.
Responses soon came flowing in with people eager to share their journeys to art including the challenges, benefits, and lessons learned.
“Within two hours, I received 170 responses. I cut it off because I thought, what am I going to do with all of this? I wrote a questionnaire, and I sent it out to all 170 people. I got back 138 responses. And that was the start,” she said.
“During COVID-19, I woke up one morning and the balloon was still there. I thought ok, you win! I’m just going to do it. It was obviously my book to do. So, I just did it.”
In 2021, Mason Steeves was committed to the idea.
“I’m not a writer, but I woke up at 4 a.m. every morning and worked till about 6:30 in the evening, sometimes longer. I worked every day, except for Christmas Day, for a year and a half,” she said.
“I started working with an editor last spring, then I contacted a publisher, and that was that. It all came to be.”
The result is an inspirational book for people looking to connect with their creative souls, no matter their age or the medium in which they choose to express themselves.
“I figured if I can learn to paint in my mid thirties, then I guess I can figure out a way to write about people coming to art later in life. So, that’s what I did,” Mason Steeves said.
For these people, art became an avenue to tap into their creativity, and to find their place in the world.
With over 40 years of painting experience, Mason Steeves is represented by galleries nationwide, with works in public, corporate, and private collections in Canada and internationally. As well as an active one-on-one art mentoring program, she teaches painting workshops across the world through a program called Workshops in Wild Places.
She has also been awarded artist residencies in Spain, Ireland, Sweden, Iceland and Wyoming.
“I much more enjoy painting, but I knew I had to write this book. Sometimes we are given jobs in our lives, and this was mine to do. I don’t know why, but it just was,” she said.
The book launch will take place at the University of Guelph Arboretum Centre on Sunday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. To save a seat, contact [email protected]
“I think people should come out, people of all ages and from all disciplines," Mason Steeves said.
"Even though I write about painting, because that is what I know, there’s so many other forms of art that this can apply to, such as writing, music, sculpture or gardening, everything that is creative,” Mason Steeves said.
BLOOM: On Becoming an Artist Later in Life, inspires a call to creativity at any age. For Mason Steeves, art can become an avenue for people to understand themselves at a deeper level.
“A friend of mine gave this book to her two nieces who are in their late 20’s. They wrote me an email telling me how important they found it because it talks about the doubts, fears and worries that you have as an adult,” Mason Steeves said.
“And all of your life experiences, they really do count for something.”
