Before she ended up in Chicago, my buddy Janet had been a happily married urban planner in the Netherlands.
As many people do, she and her husband Bob decided to make a big change—to have a child. This one lane change forever altered the course of her life. (And not in the ways she expected.)
Delft, Janet’s hometown
When she was in her sixth month of what had been a healthy pregnancy, she was diagnosed with Hellp. (HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening pregnancy complication usually considered to be a variant of preeclampsia.) She had to deliver her daughter Roos (Rose in Dutch) immediately and she almost died a few times after the birth. Sadly, Roos didn’t survive.
To make matters worse, HELLP changed Janet’s body in several nasty ways. The aftereffects included losing the ability to carry a child, severe PTSD, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain. Imagine your body reminding you every day of the worst loss of your life?!
As Janet says, “I held on to my job for dear life because I didn’t want to lose that too.” But she’d lost the ability to focus and execute due to pain and fatigue, which meant fewer days in the office and not being able to perform up to her own standards.
When Bob, her husband, got an offer to move to America for a few years for his job, she jumped at it. “Moving to the States was the only thing that allowed me to quit my job without losing my dignity.”
Once here, Janet made many more lane changes. She volunteered. She took cross training water classes, which is where I met her. And she never failed to join me in some crazy, over the top adventure. (The Dutch often preferring less flamboyant and excessive pursuits.)
Janet and Anny enjoying Santa Baby’s (a pop up holiday up bar) extreme milk shakes
She discovered that her body didn’t like sitting behind a desk for hours a day. And that she could tolerate not making money, though she didn’t love it. But best of all for the rest of us, she went back, little by little, to her beloved art.
Love at first sight! My introduction to Studio Tiny Pieces in Chicago
When she went back to Delft, she turned her art into a career. (I just wish I could be by her side to watch her soar in person.)
Janet cleaning up the beach in Bonaire where she finds most of her plastic
She’s living proof that tragedies, both on a personal and planet level, can turn trash into transformation, allowing one to spark joy in one’s self and others.
Her website:
https://www.studiotinypieces.nl/
She has an Etsy shop now. So everyone can get a ‘piece’ of Janet if they want! :-) Note: This is not an affiliate link. I get nothing other than the satisfaction of turning you on to an amazing artist whose pieces help clean up the ocean!
*Janet’s story used with her permission of course.
Of course there have been many artists who depict animals/nature. This one didn’t use plastic, but was a trailblazer for many a children’s illustrator/author, especially in the ‘animal stories’ department. I give you Beatrix Potter’s notes via
:
This is beautiful! Thank you 🥹