One day, she might be heading down the highway on her Harley Davidson with the wind in her hair and not a care in the world. The next day, in between greeting customers at her job at a local general store, she’ll be hand-painting a raccoon on a rock or making a cute, little leather satchel or bracelet.<\/p>\n
“I have no stress in my life,” she admits, adding that it took awhile for her to get to the point where she’s absolutely content with herself.<\/p>\n
Jo-Anne’s worked at the same little store for 20 years. You know, the one on King William Street that’s been there forever with all the moccasins and one-of-kind souvenirs and knickknacks. Jo-Anne’s the happy, free-spirited lady behind the counter with the green eyes and nice smile. She won’t tell you this right away but much of what lines the shelves and counters has been made been made by Jo-Anne herself.<\/p>\n
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Harley Davidson isn’t just a label to Jo-Anne. It means so much more. She wears something with the symbol every single day.<\/p><\/div>\n
When the owners went looking for some new Canadian-made souvenirs and knickknacks, they soon discovered they were hard to come by. Every cute little moose or wooden loon was made in China. That’s when Jo-Anne offered to make some things to sell in the store. The next day, she came to work with a few of her hand-painted rock creations. Her boss was impressed and he agreed to let her fill the shelves. (They made a deal where Jo-Anne could create on work time and the winter months are the best for that!)<\/p>\n
“How I originally got into it was I came across a book about painting rocks,”she says. “I was sort of inspired by the techniques in the book so I tried painting a couple of my own rocks. Then I decided to paint my mom’s cat on a rock and it actually turned out pretty good. She just loved it. I guess it evolved from there.”<\/p>\n\n\t\t