Jan has retired from the Valley Artisans' Co-op

The Fine Art Beadwork that Jan creates is extremely labour intensive, requiring many hours to individually sew each bead and component into a one of a kind work of art; each piece is truly a labour of love.  Jan is inspired by the nature that surrounds her home -- water, light, sky, and forests' myriad patterns, textures, and colours.  The joys and challenges of life and the human experience are also reflected in her work.

Sterling silver is shaped and  transformed into unique jewellery using a torch, hammers, saws and other traditional and non-traditional tools.  Jan's love of colour is often brought into these pieces using an assortment of carefully selected beads and gems, and objects.

Her extensive collection of beads consists of greatly varied shapes, sizes, colours, and materials.  These treasures include, but are not limited to:  semi-precious stones from all corners of the eartth; fairly traded hand-made sterling silver from Bali and the Karen Hill Tribes; one of a kind hand-made glass lampwork beads from self representing artists;  Swarovski (r) Crystals; antiques from Europe; and organic gems such as amber and mother of pearl.

While Jan is not actively pursuing publication or exhibition of her work at this time, in the past she has been published in Kalmbach Publishing's "Bead & Button Magazine",  Interweave Press' "Beadwork Magazine",  and the cover of "Cahoots" magazine.  Her beadwork pieces have won awards at juried art shows, both in amatuer and professional categories.

Since her retirement from the Valley Artisans' Co-op, Jan has been diving into the exploration of meditative/intuitive/abstract art under the tutilage of some phenomenal teachers.