IN A QUIET backwater of a North Lancashire town lies an undiscovered gem.

A place where art, floristry, and other creative pursuits come together under The Whitaker Studio roof.

On Carnforth's New Street, the studio is the artistic home of Janet Ware.

A former Co-op store now transformed into an oasis of abstract images of Venice and bold, life-like images of cheetahs, giraffes, snow leopards and other glorious beasts captured by Janet's skilful brushstrokes.

Colour literarily bursts from every wall.

She also runs a floristry business, tutors in painting, promotes her son Thomas's musical instrument repair venture and her daughter Jane's Alternative Dance Company, and allocates part of the premises for an antique pine dealer to display his goods.

And that doesn't include hubbie Don's finely-crafted doll's houses and furniture.

Janet's Venice period stems from her honeymoon with Don ten years ago.

The second marriage for them both was celebrated with a memorable trip via the Orient Express.

Janet said she wanted to capture the movement of Venice: "There's a bustle to Venice.

But there isn't a car.

It's all done by water, and at night it glistens."

As well as inspiration from abroad, Janet has portrayed romantic vistas nearer to home with scenes depicting the legendary embrace of Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in the film Brief Encounter with the famous Carnforth Station clock frozen in time at 20 to six: "There is a demand for local scenes.

People kept coming in to the shop saying they want to send something to Uncle George, who was born and bred in Carnforth and now lives in Germany or wherever."

As a conservationist, Janet was given the freedom of Chester and London zoos for a year, to mix with the inmates, creating some special and extremely endearing artwork: "I have a thing about giraffes," she confesses.

Born in Prestwich, near Manchester, Janet has a moving personal story to tell.

She talks fondly of her parents, Lucy and Richard, whose love and guidance helped her overcome a serious sight disability as a child, caused, she tells me, by a bad tooth.

"At ten, after a series of eye operations I was left seeing seven of everything."

Mum was musical and Janet followed suit playing the piano, tuba in a brass band, and singing.

"Dad was artistically very clever.

I had partial sight, so I was very hands on and we did a lot of working with wood."

Undaunted, she developed her artistic ability and made it to Manchester's Regional College of Art: "I went through my GSEs with one hand over my eye.

"But it made me look much harder at the things I could see.

It gave me an extra sense and it's enhanced my vision of colour."

Teaching art and crafts followed college, giving a helping hand to those with learning disabilities.

A couple of years later she was head-hunted for a post in Wales.

Over the years, as well as guiding others, Janet has established her reputation as a seascape, botanical and wildlife artist, plus a reputation in portraiture, working in oils, watercolours, pastels and mixed media.

However, after setting up her own art school and gallery in Cornwall, she received a setback of a hurricane kind in January 1990.

A traumatic event which she still finds tugs the heart strings: "Animals were flying through the air and mobile homes just lifting off the ground.

There were floods and fireman rolling around.

We lost everything."

As she says in her poem, 'My Hurricane': "It ripped my world apart."

The couple finally found their way north, arriving in Carnforth three years ago.

Janet went to work in Lancaster; Don at Steamtown, restoring railway coaches.

They set up the studio early in 2000, but Don was made redundant later in the year.

Janet added thoughtfully: "In spite of it all faith has kept us going."

The Whitaker Studio is open from Monday-Saturday, 10.30am-5.30pm.

Telephone 01524-736056.