Passionate about pattern, thrilled by threads and captivated by colour, Jane finds contemporary lace the perfect medium – pretty well anything you can wind on a bobbin, she will find a use for in lace.  It might be lustrous white silk for a scarf, bright cottons to create 3D intensity in a colour panel, or heavy-weight linen to trim a garden parasol; each offer a different challenge.

Jane has been making lace for 25 years, initially captivated by the traditional patterns introduced to her by her grandmother, a Downton lacemaker in the 1920s.  The desire to design her own work caught her early, but it was something she had to teach herself, and since then has been keen to pass on to others. She takes many of her designs from nature, inspired by the forces that shape the landscape or patterns found on the beach or in the forest.

Her patterns travel the world in Lace Express, and she has just revised her 1987 book on pattern design for a new CD version. She has been exploring greater use of colour and scale since the late 1980s, and a Lace Guild Bursary in 1995 enabled her to add the use of thick threads to her already broad palette of weaving and embroidery yarns.  She has been sponsored by Southern Arts for work on large-scale lace installations.

Jane makes decorative panels, hangings, scarves, jewellery, trimmings, furnishings and gifts, which are exhibited nationwide with the Lace Guild and other organisations.  She has a busy programme of teaching and lecturing.