Textile Artist and Quilt Maker

Born in 1953, Jan spent the first 44 years of her life in the UK, most of that time living on the Isle of Wight or as close to the sea as she could be. In 1997, she moved to Nassau, Bahamas to be with her husband, where she now lives and practices her art.

For as long as she can remember, she has made things; as a child, she was constantly raiding her mother’s stash of buttons, beads, threads, yarns, and fabrics. However, she would never have described herself as artistic, just practical.

In 1996, she was invited to attend a series of quilting classes for beginners. Immediately captivated by the precise geometric shapes and the precision required for piecing the fabrics together, these elements are still very apparent in Jan’s current work.

By 2001, her work was being accepted in local, national and international juried quilt exhibitions. She enjoys attending these shows, where she uses the opportunity to take classes, learning under the guidance of internationally acclaimed teachers.

In 2008, she completed a City and Guilds qualification in Patchwork and Quilting. One of the pieces completed for this course was accepted as a finalist at the International Quilt Show in Houston, Texas, in 2009, and was included in a 2010 publication by Lark Books – 500 Art Quilts. Another piece was exhibited at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, UK, in 2008.

Through the medium of fabric, Jan ha found the artist within her, and using her own much-loved stash of cloth, yarn, threads, buttons and beads, is ready to take her place amongst artists in other mediums.