Janet has been making lace since 1990, has taught in adult education and is currently teaching at Barleylands Craft Village, in Billericay, Essex where she lives.   Janet initially used traditional materials and patterns and has attended many workshops and classes with different tutors to learn and extend her skills.  These include Pat Read, Yvonne Scheele-Kerkhof, and Alexandra Stillwell, who encouraged her to design her own patterns.    Having studied and passed City and Guilds Part I and II and attended design courses in Prague every year since 2007 she has branched out experimenting with different textures, styles and forms particularly 3D pieces of lace and is constantly looking for ways to develop her own skills in an exciting way, whilst at the same time supporting the evolution of lace.

 

Janet along with Sharon Lidbury and Alison Tolson, also members of The Westhope Group, run design workshops culminating in a week of lacemaking in the Czech Republic with a professional lacemaking designer Alina Jaskova and technician Anna Halíková. Here the designs are developed into a working pattern ready to make a piece of lace.

 

Janet enjoys researching an idea or theme particularly if the inspiration has a personal connection to her, experimenting with mixed media, textiles, embroidery and lace. 

 

Janet has recently been experimenting with structures to form 3D pebbles.

 

There is always something new to learn, develop and design.