Jo Haythornthwaite was born and educated in Nottingham, England, came to Canada in 1970 and became a Canadian Citizen in 1975. She was a self taught artist, with no formal art training since High School. Jo greatly enjoyed experimenting with shape and colour. After weaving on a 4 harness loom for a while (making wall hangings and upholstery fabric) she fell in love with the technique of Trianglepoint in 1977. Nearly twenty years later, she was still creating original Trianglepoint designs, having completed over a hundred and fifty of them.
Jo was President of Bells Corners Arts League in 1983/84 and was also a member of Art Lending of Ottawa. She exhibited regularly with these organizations, and had solo shows at QRL Analysis Corporation, The Royal Bank, Dows Lake Pavilion, Byward Market, Fifth Avenue Court, Nepean Visual Arts Centre, the Courtyard Restaurant and Arteca Gallery.
Her work appeals to people in the high-tech world, and hangs in offices and collections in England, Spain, U.S.A. and Canada.
Trianglepoints consist of regular, geometric shapes, based on a triangular unit. They are stitched on needlepoint canvas which is mounted and framed for hanging. Trianglepoint was invented by Sherlee Lantz in 1976. Full instructions on how to create trianglepoint designs are described by Sherlee Lantz in her book "Trianglepoint" published in 1976.
The medium lends itself to spectacular three dimensional effects, which the brain interprets in different ways, sometimes resulting in apparent changes of perspective, or intriguing optical illusions. Some designs have an Escher-like impossibility; others could be used as plans for realistic three dimensional constructions.
Although all the design lines are straight, there are several ways in which curves can be implied. The eye can be fooled, especially if it is willing to be fooled. The mind can be intrigued if it is sufficiently open.