MEET JANE MARIN
"You've seen my work. Now come and meet the person behind it."
A Creative Life, Woven Together
I don't remember a time when I wasn't making something.
As a child I was always drawing, sewing, imagining and creating. Over the years my curiosity has led me through photography, soft sculpture, mixed media painting, illustration and, eventually, the ancient craft of bookbinding. Each creative path has taught me something different, yet they've all been connected by the same desire—to make sense of the world through creating.
Today I work from my studio on our family farm in rural Queensland, Australia, where the changing seasons, native birds, Gillens Creek and the Australian landscape quietly shape much of my work. Alongside painting and illustration, I handcraft journals and sketchbooks using traditional bookbinding techniques, creating books that are designed to be filled with stories, sketches, dreams and discoveries.
Perhaps I'm best known for my illustrations for oracle cards and books, where symbolism, mythology and nature come together to tell stories beyond words. Whether I'm painting a landscape, illustrating a dragon, or stitching a leather journal by hand, every piece begins with curiosity and is made slowly, thoughtfully and with great care.
Over the years I've also discovered that I love creating spaces just as much as I love creating art. Through my workshops I invite people to explore creativity without pressure or expectation. You don't need to call yourself an artist—you simply need a willingness to begin.
Creativity and Living AuDHD
Discovering that I am Autistic and ADHD in my sixties didn't change who I was—it helped me understand who I had always been.
It explained why creativity has never been just a hobby or a career. It is how I process the world, regulate my nervous system, solve problems and reconnect with myself. Living with Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS has also taught me to work with my energy rather than against it, embracing a slower, more sustainable creative rhythm.
These experiences have naturally become part of my work. They influence the way I teach, the way I design my workshops, and the way I write about creativity, burnout and neurodivergence. Rather than separating these parts of my life, I've come to see them as threads in the same tapestry.
If you'd like to read more about my journey as an AuDHD artist—including creativity, burnout recovery and the lessons I'm learning along the way—I warmly invite you to visit my blog, where I share the more personal side of my creative life.
Above all, I hope my work reminds people that creativity isn't about perfection or talent. It's about paying attention, staying curious and discovering that making something with your hands can also be a way of coming home to yourself.
