BIO & CV 
PUBLICAITONS
Where to See My Work
My Mission & Heartbeat
I create to honor memory, transform what’s been discarded, and invite others into healing.  My work begins with forgotten materials—driftwood, worn metal, broken heirlooms—and reimagines them as something meaningful and new.

Rooted in themes of spirituality, restoration, and presence, each piece invites reflection and connection. I seek to draw parallels between nature and the human experience. 

For me, creating is more than craft—it’s a sacred act of listening, holding space, and offering beauty where it’s least expected.
As an artist working with mixed media, I create wearable art jewelry, sculptures and sculptural vessels that invite contemplation and connection. Each piece tells a story, reflecting the beauty and complexity of the human experience through the transformation of discarded materials. Using found objects, artifacts, and reclaimed fragments, my work honors the passage of time and the healing power of renewal.

My jewelry and sculptural vessels are meditations on the relationship between memory, identity, and the materials we hold dear. Like landscapes shaped by the forces of nature, each object is molded by time—weathered, eroded, and reborn into something new. I work with materials that have histories—aged metal, vintage jewelry, natural elements, and forgotten fragments—each one carrying a story. Through transformation, these stories gain new meaning and purpose.
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Just as the landscapes around us are constantly changing, so too are we shaped by our experiences. My work explores this process: the fractures, the healing, the transformation. Each piece--whether jewelry or sculpture--invites the viewer to reflect on their own journey.

It suggests the textures, imperfections, and details serve as gentle reminders:
That beauty lies in the brokenness.
That resilience is found in renewal.
That transformation is possible.

For those seeking connection, meaning, and a sense of belonging, my art offers a space for reflection and self-discovery.
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​It serves as a reminder that we, like the materials I use, are constantly evolving—marked by time, but always open to become something new.
LET'S CREATE SOMETHING SPECIAL.
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The Long Version (For the Curious & Kindred Spirits)
Welcome to My World
​I am delighted to welcome you to my online sanctuary--
a space where the transformation of broken things meets the human experience.
My name is Janise Crow, a mixed media artist based in State College, Pennsylvania. 

This is more than a gallery—it's a space to remember, to slow down, and reconnect with what matters.

As you explore my work, I’d love to share the story behind it--
a journey shaped by hands-on learning, quiet resilience, and the call to create art with soul.

Rooted in the Land, Raised by Makers
I grew up in the rolling countryside of Virginia, steeped in the rhythms of rural Americana.  Here, knowledge was passed down through generations—how to grow, mend, build, and make.

We learned by doing: homemaking, farming, raising animals, metalworking, auto repair, and handcrafts of every kind.  It was more than a skillset—it was a way of life. And it quietly prepared me to be the artist I would one day become.

My path led me through many creative and technical roles—on-the-job learning, mentorships, trial and error.  Each one laid another layer of foundation beneath my feet.

Years later, I began to truly hear the call:
To give voice to something deeper.
To make meaning from what’s been left behind.
To tell stories through texture, shape, and form.

Where Wearable Art Was Born
My passion for assemblage jewelry began with a longing to make a difference.
At the time, I was walking alongside women who had been diagnosed with cancer-- supporting them with gentle hands, hair alternatives, and makeup techniques.

Each session became more than just a consultation. It was a sacred exchange. A moment of dignity. A quiet honoring of their strength.

I witnessed their courage as they faced an invisible enemy—one that invaded their bodies and demanded everything.  To survive, they had to surrender: their energy, their hair, even parts of their bodies that held their sense of femininity and self.  The treatment that aimed to heal often felt like destruction.

Their skin paled, their features changed, and often, the face in the mirror felt like a stranger.

I wanted to do more than offer surface solutions.
I wanted them to know: 
I see you. 
I hear your grief, your fight, your longing to feel whole again.

That’s when I began creating wearable art—pieces that tell a story of survival, beauty, and belonging.

Inspired by vintage jewelry artist Miriam Haskell, I found my voice through assemblage.  Seemingly random elements—brooches, beads, heirloom trinkets—became sacred symbols: of courage, of family, of loss, of love.

Each piece is an honoring and a conversation between past and present, brokenness and becoming.

In witnessing their transformation, I found the beginning of my own.
What began as a tribute became a calling—an ember glowing quietly inside me.

​Because we all long to know where we come from.
To feel rooted.
To feel seen.
To know we belong.
→ [View the Jewelry Gallery]
→ [See Custom Work]

The Art of Holding Space
As life unfolded, I found myself in another season of loss—one where words didn’t come easily.  That’s when I began working with my hands again.

I wandered creek beds and forest paths, gathering driftwood and copper scraps, broken pottery and forgotten fragments.  
Each piece called to something inside me.
Not just beauty, but brokenness.
Not just form, but memory.

It began as an act of mending. A prayer, almost.
And slowly, bowls began to take shape in my hands—vessels forged from fire and time, shaped by hammer and heart.

These weren’t just art objects.
They were spaces to hold stories,
spaces to sit with silence,
spaces to honor the unseen.

My sculptural vessels became a new way of listening.
Of honoring pain. Of holding presence.
Because sometimes, what we need most is simply a place to rest what we carry.

Like copper shaped by fire, we are softened, scarred, and made beautiful by what we endure.
→ [View the Vessel Collection]

Why I Create
I create to honor the quiet stories--
the ones that live in the worn edges of a spoon,
the softened bend of driftwood,
or the patina of time on copper.

I am a mixed media artist who sees beyond objects.
I see stories, histories, and threads of connection woven into the things we hold onto, discard, and rediscover.  Every forgotten fragment carries a whisper of the past, waiting to be reimagined.

Through my work, I bring these fragments together—honoring their journey and shaping them into something new.
Rooted in themes of spirituality, renewal, and transformation,
each piece invites us to see beauty in imperfection,
to find meaning in what remains,
and to reconnect with the memories and meanings that shape us.

This is not about perfection.
It’s about presence.
It's about valuing the imperfections.
It’s about becoming.

An Invitation
There is beauty in becoming,
grace in gathering the scattered pieces.

If something within you is stirring,
perhaps now is the time to explore your story in a new way.
​
I would be honored to walk with you.
→ Let’s create something that speaks for you.