Janice E. Kirk

Janice E. Kirk is a published author, illustrator, teacher, and musician. Trained as an

artist, a singer, and a writer, she writes about nature, the arts, spirituality, and related topics. She holds a B.Mus. from U. of Oregon (Eugene) and a M.Mus. in Vocal Perf/Pedagogy from U. of

Colorado (Boulder). She taught music, art, and language arts in the public schools (Oregon,

California), and served as Art Coordinator and Project Writer for the Language, Art & Music

Project in Shasta Co. Schools (1974-77). She recently retired as Adjunct Voice Instructor at

Simpson U. (Redding, California). Currently she is a member of Faith Lutheran Church, Winona,

Minnesota. After many years in California, Jan and husband Don moved to Winona in the

beautiful Mississippi River Valley to be closer to their children and grandchildren.

Outdoor Experience: With their two children Jan and Don traveled, camped, sketched,

and photographed throughout the American West. In the 1960s they collected information on

wild edible plants for Don’s book for which Jan did 300 botanical sketches. Several

summers found them on Teaching Staff at Holden Village (ELCA) on Lake Chelan in the Central

Washington Cascade Mountains. Don was Village Naturalist; Jan taught watercolor classes.