Jane majored in Fine Art at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, and was graduated in 1966. After graduation, she worked in her hometown, Baltimore, Maryland, teaching and coordinating recreational programs, while painting, showing and selling her work in the metropolitan area.
In 1971, she and husband David immigrated to Canada. For ten years, they lived in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, "homesteading" and working at a variety of jobs. In 1981, they moved to Dartmouth, where she began to draw and paint again. She taught art classes for the Dartmouth (and then HRM) Continuing Education Department from 1982 until 2000. Since the demise of city-sponsored adult education, she has been teaching classes under the banner of “Dartmouth Art Students League.” She has exhibited in a variety of shows and galleries, and her work is in corporate and public collections, as well as private collections in Canada and the U.S.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

My painting is about making the familiar seem marvelous. I begin with a commonplace image that feels comfortable and positive (usually from nature), and, in so far as possible transcends issues such as taste, class, gender, culture. I then try to isolate and strengthen the visual elements that interest me most: gesture, pattern, colour interaction, and shape/form relationship. Portrait and figure drawing are a powerful source of connection with that sense of “marvelous”. Our bodies are our deepest experience of Nature—both in our perfections and our imperfections.

As a teacher, my aim is two-fold. I want to give students a grounding in basic techniques and understanding of the “formal” elements, such as composition, colour theory, and draughtsmanship. On another level, however, is my effort to help each person toward his/her own “style” and discovery of personally significant subject matter.