I am often asked how I came up with the idea of using Mason jars for this series. I thank Fred Marshall and his trusty tape recorder. When Fred purchased the property “up Kerr Creek,” where my grandparents Werner and Eva lived and raised their daughters between 1926 and 1946, he sought out my grandmother and recorded her stories. Years later, he contacted me and asked me to transcribe them. In one of the stories, Eva described how she had 300 Mason jars “on the go at all times” to preserve food. 

At the time, I had been trying to create a monumental work of art expressing the family history. Frustrated with my attempts, I decided I may just as well do something useful. My students were always asking me to teach them how to paint glass, so I’d learn how to paint glass. I put an egg in a jar and painted it, then a pear, knitting needles, wool, and bone. 

I quickly became fascinated with painting glass, and the distortions glass causes to the objects seen through it. It was while painting Mason Jar with Barking Dog (April 5, 2014) that I realized I had a series emerging and that the series was about my relationship with family and my quest to claim a lost legacy. 

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RENEWAL & HOPE

Werner loved the land and the life on it. He passed this love on to his children, and they passed it on to theirs. He was a sustainable logger before it was called that. My mother encouraged my fascination with wild plants and wild places. I was allowed to wander and collect plants, pressing them in old telephone books and mounting them in scrap books. 

In painting these moments of hope and renewal, I was struck by the way glass and water distort. I spent hours pondering the realization that beauty is not constant. It moves from the original, creating insights into resilience. In setting up the still lifes for these works, I played with these variations, experimenting with the jars and objects to create distortions that supported the narrative I was creating. I hope you will also find renewal in these images and discover a new way to connect with beauty. 

Mason Jar with Dragonfly    2014

If wishes could be retroactive
I’d wish my Mother’s childhood
To have more dragonflies to eat insects. 

Mason Jar with Calypso Orchid       2014 

Rare beauty in the forest
Two in their prime and one past it.
My Mother, my Aunt, and their Mother. 

Matriarchs of my life. 

Mason Jar with Strawberry plant   2014 

We work so hard to launch our young to greener pastures
sometimes forgetting
how good our homes are. 

Mason Jar with Two Bits        2014

A taste of freedom
Escape from work and poverty 
To range the hills on horses 
Well-earned pleasure. 

Mason Jar with Boundary Creek     2014 

He died at Boundary Creek 
Not here but further up,
At a camp, in a fire,
Alone with his story. 

Mason Jar with Maple leaves             2014 

It is complicated, 
Being Canadian 
Distilled from other 
Not quite fitting. 

Mason Jar with wheat              2014

Wheat from a ditch in Alberta 
Escaping from a field
Making its way to a table
In a place where wheat does not grow. 

Mason Jar with nettle              2016

Early greens for settlers
Now a boon for foragers 
Harvest with caution and enjoy. 

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Learn more about 300 Mason Jars: 

A charming art book exploring universal themes of family through 300 watercolour paintings of objects "preserved" in Mason jars. 

The fragmented history of one family’s hope, challenge, failure, and persistence is beautifully depicted in this book of watercolour images by artist Joanne Thomson. Combining still-life painting with visual storytelling, Thomson presents everyday artifacts—from flowers to fruits, tools to toys, and photographs to farm equipment—and places them in, on, beside, or behind a glass jar.

Carefully gathered from the artist’s family members and the natural environments where they lived, the simple objects in this collection represent the depth and complexity of daily life. Arranged thematically, the pieces explore traditional gender roles, the issue of food security in times of scarcity, renewal and hope presented by the bounty of nature, treasures passed down through generations, and the looming presence of family secrets. Beautiful to look at and infinitely fascinating to ponder over, 300 Mason Jars is a stunning addition to any art lover’s library.