Jan lives and works in the Waitakere Ranges in West Auckland. The bush, the coastline and beaches in this environment have a major influence on the pots she makes. She has also been influenced by the simple elegant pots made in 13th century China during the Sung Dynasty.

Porcelain is Jan's clay of choice. It has qualities that appeal to her senses - its purity enhances the colour clarity in glazes and its translucency adds mystery in different lighting situations. Jan's pots are generally based on the traditional vessel form.

Bowls, boxes, vases and bottles are the pots she likes to make. She uses several techniques including wheel throwing, press moulding, slabs and slip casting to make her pots. Jan then decorates them using carved, imprinted and pierced designs which are coated in a matt-white glaze and airbrushed with oxide washes before firing in an electric kiln to a temperature of about 1260 C.
She uses lustres on a satin-finish glaze on some of her pots for other decorative effects.
She also recycles the fragments of her unsuccessful and broken pots to make mosaic mirror frames.