As a child, Jean loved to draw and color making her own designs of clowns and robots. Palm trees and grass shacks became her favorite when living in Florida. That changed to pine trees and aspen trees after moving to Colorado.

“Purple Medusas” - Hand and machine applique, painted elements, buttons, silk, yarn, crochet, Roc-Lon, shells and cheese cloth, original design, machine quilted

In junior high she participated in any summer art class offered that her parents would pay for including ceramics and pottery. Her mother taught her embroidery at an early age which she still enjoys, and her grandmother taught her to quilt when she was in college. Her first quilt was a simple nine-patch which later fell apart, but she was hooked, so much so that she drove 79 miles one way for six weeks to take quilting lessons while living in Colorado. It was in that class that she designed her own first quilt block and has never stopped designing.  

Jean has designed four quilts for the New Mexico Quilters Association featuring balloons which were raffled at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. She is inspired by fabric, photos and books and using her imagination and trying new mediums. A whole new world of creativity opened up after discovering applique and fabric painting and that led her to mixed media, using paper, Roc-Lon, Tyvek, Lutradur, paint, string, lace, crochet, ribbon, buttons, beads, Ink tense pencils, Silk, etc. She has never settled on one style but prefers to embrace new ideas.

“We’re Not In Kansas Anymore” - Applique, embroidery, couching, hand quilted

“The Zebra Tree” - hand quilted, original design

Original design of painted tyvek tree and flowers with silk leaves and buttons, machine quilted

Jean says she is fortunate to have a dedicated studio for quilting, along with a separate room where she can focus on painting. Recently, her work has centered on designing scrap quilts, resulting in bins of fabric scraps scattered throughout her creative spaces.

After seeing a similar design in a book, Jean made here own version, applique, machine stitching, painted moon and leaves.

To Jean, being creative means bringing ideas to life. She says sometimes those ideas succeed, and sometimes they do not. She encourages others not to fear trying something new—everyone possesses creative abilities; it is simply a matter of discovering them through classes and experimentation.

Jean believes the most important aspect of designing is to have fun and if a design is not working, she doesn’t hesitate to set it aside. She saves all backgrounds that failed the first time to later find their place in new projects.

“Garden Circles” - a scrapy quilt, hand quilted

“Three Amigos” - painted fabric background, painted cacti and rocks on Roc-Lon and Lutradur, original design, machine quilted

Most of Jean’s designs begin as visions in her mind, but she lets the creative process morph into a final product often different from her original vision. Her process usually begins with the background, to which she adds design elements as inspiration strikes. She strives to create detail in her compositions believing that detail attracts greater attention to her work.

Jean has shared her experiences through lectures and teaching painting techniques to other quilters at The New Mexico Quilters Association.