While pursuing a degree in business, I became intrigued with a piece of pottery in a local shop window; so intrigued, in fact, that I walked into the shop and signed up for the pottery making class that they offered. That one course changed the direction that my life’s work took. I left behind the school of business to explore the world of art and obtained a degree in Art Education from Northern Illinois University.

40 years, thousand of pieces of functional pottery and hundreds of art fairs later, pottery making still remains a strong focus for me; however now, I find myself increasingly drawn to capturing on paper the colors, motion and power of nature and animals around me, both in the wilderness setting of southwest New Mexico where I spend the winter and the heavily forested shores of Lake Michigan where I live in the summer. Each of these locations offer a unique blend of hues and textures that motivate me to express and share my emotional connection to those visual experiences around me.

My days are full, both with creating art and visually enjoying the magnificence of the world I see.

“ I throw pots

(And the hum of the wheel frees me from stress, and the feel of the warm, soft clay takes me back to my youth on the farm, where I'd run barefoot through the mud and delight as it oozed between my toes.)

I mix glazes

(And watch them mingle and flow and I jump for joy when I realize I can capture that same animation of color with watercolor on paper)

I move watercolors with my brushes and fingertips

(And love how the paints mingle and come alive, and then dry and freeze their explosion of color)

I collect abandoned stuff

(And the rush I get as I think of how it might be used for my next collage makes me smile and smile.)

I paste things together

(And calling it art keeps me out of a sanatorium. And, yes, I love to peel the dried glue off my fingertips.)

I sit in the sun

(and contemplate how through my art I can pay respect to the things that I am most passionate about: nature, color and animals, and when I look up, the vastness of the universe refills me with hope and wonder.”

My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with  The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.

-Jane Wilke Turner