These sculptural vessels begin with the gathering of one component and the growing of another component. As a young child being raised on a southwest Nebraska dryland farm, Jane developed a keen interest in things of nature...Devil's claws being one of those things. Devil's claws are seed pods which grow on a plant called a Devil's Claw. The plant, considered a weed, grows wild, unwelcome in pasture canyon bottoms or along the edges of fields. Devil's claws, one of the components used in these vessels, are gathered when Jane goes back to visit the area where she grew up. For the other component Jane plants gourd seeds in her garden. She tends the gourd vines through the summer until after the first fall frost, then she harvests the mature gourds, and leaves them to dry over winter. It takes about a year for a gourd to be ready to use from the time a gourd seed is planted. Both the gourds and the Devil's claws require a variety of cleaning, sorting, prepping and storing processes way in advance of the actual art making. Jane works in a sunroom studio surrounded by her backyard gardens where color inspirations and nature themes are plentiful up-close all around. Merging her love for plants/gardening into the art she creates, Jane transforms the gourds into sculptural art vessels embellished with Devil's claws, copper wire, oil paint, wash fast acid dyes and beads. Each art piece is engraved with its title, completion date, and Jane's signature.
