Janet Middleton's artistic journey began in western Canada's core institutions, where she received comprehensive training at the Winnipeg School of Art (1941-3), followed by studies at the Provincial Institute of Art and Technology in Calgary (1943-6) under H.G. Glyde and Walter J. Phillips. Her education culminated at the Banff School of Fine Arts with Phillips, Glyde, George Pepper, and A.Y. Jackson—a notable connection given Jackson's membership in the Group of Seven. In 1961-62, she earned a British Arts Council Bursary for the prestigious Slade School of Art in London, where she concentrated on graphics, and simultaneously traveled and studied across France, Italy, Japan, Indonesia, and the USA. She painted as Janet Middleton until 1950, then generally adopted Middleton or Janet (Holly) Middleton for the remainder of her career. Her teaching career spanned decades, beginning at the University of Alberta's Department of Extension (1948-64), which afforded her extensive travel throughout Alberta. At just 27, she became the youngest female instructor at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1947, where she taught painting during summer terms until 1971. Later, she lectured at the University of Guelph's Landscape Architecture and Costume Department.

Reference:
Armstrong, Christopher. Nelles, H.V. The Painted Valley, Artists Along Alberta’s Bow River, 1845-2000. University of Calgary Press, 2007.

Cochran, Bente Roed.  Printmaking in Alberta, 1945-1985.  Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1989.

Gooch, Jane Lytton.  Mount Assiniboine, Images In Art.  Vancouver, BC: Rocky Mountain Books, 2007.

Laviolette, Mary-Beth. An Alberta Art Chronicle: Adventures in Recent & Contemporary Art. Altitude Publishing, Canmore, Alberta, 2005.
MacDonald, Colin S.  A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume 4.  Ottawa: Canadian Paperbacks, 2000.

Middleton, catalogue published Los Gatos, California.
Townshend, Nancy. A History of Art in Alberta 1905-1970. Bayeux Arts Publishing, Calgary, AB, 2005.

Watercolours

Her watercolour practice drew deeply from the English Watercolor Technique tradition, characterized by light, transparent washes that demanded considerable technical skill. Middleton approached this medium with a commitment to plein air documentation, continuing the tradition of topographic artists from the expansionist period. Working outdoors allowed her to capture Alberta's landscapes with immediacy and precision. Her close association with Walter J. Phillips deepened further when she served as his assistant during his later years, absorbing his approach to both painting and printmaking.

Beyond landscapes, she was also a well-known portraitist, frequently commissioned by the Province of Alberta; many of her portraits of government dignitaries reside in the Provincial Collection, and the Banff Centre alone commissioned eight portraits from her during the 1970s.