Jane Voorhees is known for her beautiful silver jewelry, stunning pastel paintings and rustic twig accessories. Her work is intricate, with Old World craftsmanship.
In 1983, she and her husband Don moved to Blairstown to raise their family. It is evident that Voorhees’s paintings and twig work are inspired by the majestic woodland region. Her work is outstanding and can be seen at Peters Valley Gallery, located at 19 Kuhn Road, Layton, and Gallery 23, Main Street, Blairstown.
Meet her at Gallery 23 during “Jingle on Main, ” a crafter event for the whole family, Saturday, November 26, from 10am to 4pm.
Her jewelry can be described as fantasy pieces of art featuring beautiful woman, angelic cupids, handsome Indian chiefs, playful fairies, majestic wildlife creatures, bouquets of flowers and one-of-a-kind designs in gold and silver with glittering semi-precious stones. She calls her latest work rustic twig work which are frames and accessories expressing her love of nature.
“My mother taught me, from the time I was a little kid, to draw on everything,” she reminisced.
She was enrolled at the Yard School of Art in Montclair with Margaret Yard Tyler, an acclaimed pastel portrait artist for five years.
By the time Voorhees was 13 years old, she won first place in an art contest held in the park. The pastel portrait was of a soldier, a friend of the family. When the judges found out that the artist was a child, they didn’t believe it and disqualified her. Her parents and some judges went to battle for her, insisting it was her work. She still has the award.
“My family had a small resort in the Catskills, where I took a class in wax casting, that’s all it took, and I was smitten. I bought a used kiln and started making my own jewelry,” Voorhees stated.
Voorhees studied at Eastern Michigan University, the School of Visual Arts and received a B.A. from Livingston College at Rutgers University. Her supplemental education was in the form of an apprenticeship to jeweler Paul Gollhardt, enameling with Bill Helwig, and jewelry workshops with Chuck Evans, Rick Marshall, Marci Zelmanoff and Mary Ann Scheer.
From 1975-1977, Voorhees worked for Century Casting, a wax production jewelry casting firm in New York City. At that time most of the jewelry was gold with gems. She worked her way up and soon became the manager. Her boss was generous with his knowledge, and she learned much while she was there.
After some time, she started producing her own line of jewelry and has been self-employed
since then. She can be seen on Facebook and Instagram.
Visit Voorhees at https://www.Janevoorhees.com
Peters Valley Gallery at https://www.petersvalleygallery.org/collections/jane-voorheese
Gallery 23 at https://gallery23.net/jane-voorhees
