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Background
Born in 1954 Jane grew up in the countryside surrounded by the marshlands of Suffolk and the valleys and mountains of Wales. Her mother Sally Seymour was an artist and potter, as was her grandmother Muriel Medworth. Jane's grandfather Frank Medworth was head of Sydney Art School and her paternal grandfather was Albert Angus Turbayne, printer and book cover designer. Her father John Seymour was a travel writer, and author of self-sufficiency books among many others. Jane’s upbringing was unconventional and with little formal education, however she was always encouraged to paint and draw even if the rest of her schooling was overlooked. As a young mother she ran a small craft shop with her partner, making hand-painted wood products and silk scarves. |
In 1994 Jane moved to Co. Clare, Ireland, where she built a house and an art studio and began to make ceramics.
Her ceramics are all hand built. She makes coil-built vessels, which are burnished with pebbles, and smoke-fired in wood shavings and seaweed, colouring the surface with abstract smoke patterns, often re-peat smoke-firing to create layers of movement.
Alongside these organic shapes, Jane's makes large slab-built bowls and forms, often geometric in shape, which she etches into and textures with figurative drawings and decorative patterns. With these she attempts to create a new dynamic entity. As well as working from her own life drawings and bird sketches, she draws inspiration from great artists such as Modigliani, Gauguin, Matisse and Brancusi. These ceramics are multi-fired with layers of oxides and slips applied between each firing, and sanded down to create depth and texture.
Jane is inspired by the rugged landscapes and wild nature of the West of Ireland, and much of her spare time is spent observing and sketching her surroundings; the rounded shapes of sea washed rocks, storm lashed trees bent by the wind, and the dynamics of a particular community of crows living on the coast. She is fascinated by their individual characters and behavior patterns.
Life drawing is also a passion, she is touched by the vulnerability and beauty of the naked human figure, which she sometimes merges into mythical.
Jane has much experience teaching pottery to adults and children of all ages and abilities, and runs classes in the community. She is also involved in an enterprise called 'CROI' meaning heart, involving four women artists, four disciplines. She is a selected member of the CPA.
Life drawing is also a passion, she is touched by the vulnerability and beauty of the naked human figure, which she sometimes merges into mythical.
Jane has much experience teaching pottery to adults and children of all ages and abilities, and runs classes in the community. She is also involved in an enterprise called 'CROI' meaning heart, involving four women artists, four disciplines. She is a selected member of the CPA.
