PAST MONTH'S ARCHIVES
This month we are pleased to present...
Janet FentonBy Rita Vainius Click here for her FREE PATTERN (shown above) Janet Fenton, an only child, was not too spoiled, she takes pains to insist! She spent her childhood living either on the East Coast (NY) or the West (CA). Janet recalls life as a child in Pasadena vividly - as a dream come true. Her father's business ( KTTV in CA and NBC-TV in NYC) exposed her to the early years of television when the TV tube pointed to the ceiling, with a mirror mounted at an angle in back, to reflect back the image. After a 4 year stay in CA, the family moved back to NY (Long Island), where Janet attended and finished high school. Then she was off to Ohio Wesleyan University, a prestigious school, where Janet learned how to study, meet deadlines and get to class without falling too much on icy sidewalks. Proper young ladies were not allowed to wear pants unless the temperature went below 10 degrees, so one often saw Janet sporting red rings where the skin between her sox and skirt was exposed. You get the picture - Janet hates the cold! While still in college, her dad was transferred back to the West Coast and after graduation, Janet could hardly wait to return to sunny California, the enchanted environs of her childhood memories. In college Janet had majored in radio and television. Her first job was at CBS-TV in the dungeon, otherwise known as the mimeograph department. She reminisces, "Not too exciting, BUT we did get to type Rawhide scripts and Clint Eastwood was tops on my list!" At the first opportunity, Janet applied for better position and was promoted to the Script Department. Since she did not have enough seniority to withstand a series of layoffs at CBS, she was assigned temporarily to Extra Casting (another boring job) and then to Publicity where she cut out newspaper clippings about CBS shows, personnel, artists, etc. This was definitely not the life Janet had envisioned for herself, "I could hardly justify my college education this way!" She left and took a secretarial job at a theatrical agency. Her three bosses were literary agents and represented many well-known screen and TV personalities. When her boss joined the Creative Management Agency (CMA), he took Janet with him. She followed again when he signed on with Samuel Goldwyn Studios. Here he was involved in a project for a joint-venture motion picture to be produced in Switzerland. Janet was anticipating accompanying him there, but alas, the production fell apart.
-- "All Over Pepper Pillow" by Valentina Heishman (#VHFV45) By this time Janet was married and she and her husband had just bought a small house. Instead of getting another full time job, Janet opted to stay home and "play house," thinking, "Now I finally have time to pursue creative activities." This was not just a pipe dream from "out-of-the-blue;" handcrafts and artistic pursuits had always been a part of her family tradition. Her grandmother was an expert seamstress, Janet's own mother dabbled in art, one uncle was an artist and her father played the piano. Soon her latent creative tendencies were in full bloom and Janet attempted everything she could think of - paper mache, macrame, decorative tile and rock pictures, crochet, pop piano lessons, making paper flowers, sewing, as well as painting and decorating the house. She kept her hand in the movie industry, engaging in temp secretarial work, sometimes encountering and working with fascinating characters such as Kirk Douglas and Abbe Lane.
"Horses" by Barbara Wallace (#BW733) "Fawn Tapestry" by Katherine Parfet (#PF107) "Giraffe" By Valentina Heishman (#VHA37)
One course Janet took, almost against her will, was needlepoint, taught by Marlene Solomon. A well intentioned neighbor had "twisted her arm" into trying it. Janet still associated this type of stitching with "grandma's rose beige footstool." The class, contrary to her expectations, changed that misconception dramatically and set her on the journey that would bring to fruition her true talents. She was actually so inspired that she herself designed and stitched a piece as a gift. Then came the brainstorm, "Why not paint and design needlepoint canvases to sell?" The only dilemma was, that in spite of all the classes she had taken, Janet didn't consider herself either an artist or a painter. She did have a friend though (Barbara), whom she did consider to be both. Janet proposed that together they start a business; Janet's contribution would be to teach Barbara how to needlepoint, if Barbara would, in turn, teach her how to paint...and that, in 1972, was the very beginning of JB Designs.
Click Here for Page 2 of our Designer Feature
DESIGNER ARCHIVES Click below if you missed our previous Designer Spotlights and FREE patterns Carolyn Hook
Thea Dueck
Deborah Wilson
Karen Buell
Orna Willis
Linda Wyszynski
Jean Smith
Libby Sturdy
Emie Bishop
Stephanie Novatski
Rosalyn Watnemo
Linda Reeves
Carol Tinson
Julie Pischke
Catherine Reurs
Charland Garvin
Martina Weber
Cassandra Prescott
Mary Duckworth
Claudia Dutcher
Leslie Levison
Judi Kauffman
Linda Connors
Sue Kerndt
Dawn Lewis
David McCaskill
Linda Barry
Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum
Pam Davenport
Sue Stehle, of Sekas & Co.
Diane Evans, of Something Different
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