Jeanette has always shared a love of the arts, particularly oil and acrylic painting. Although science and nursing became her primary focus in college and ultimately led to her career, she continued to find inspiration to create landscapes, still lifes, and pet portraits.
In her early 30s, Jeanette and her husband experienced challenges while trying to start a family. The emotional stress of infertility led her to reconnect with her artistic outlet. At age 36, she became a mother through in vitro fertilization. As she settled into motherhood, several IVF friends asked if she would paint watercolor images of their children’s embryos. Jeanette embraced this new medium and soon began receiving commissions from other IVF mothers seeking similar meaningful artwork.
Later, inspired by her eldest son, Jeanette wrote a story about Mrs. Claus. Encouraged by her husband to pursue publication, she considered illustrating the book herself but felt uncertain about working in a new artistic style. After reaching out to a childhood friend, she was connected with her friend’s mother, Kaycee Cleveland, who created hand-drawn illustrations in Jeanette’s requested themes. Jeanette then designed the backgrounds and digitally enhanced the artwork. Although Kaycee preferred not to be publicly recognized, Jeanette credited her as the illustrator of The Magic of Mrs. Claus.
As Jeanette became more confident using digital illustration tools, she assumed the role of sole illustrator for the remaining books in the Mrs. Claus series, scheduled for release in Fall 2026.
You can follow Jeanette’s art on Instagram @Studio_of_Jeanette, and explore more stories and artwork related to her fertility journey @the_infertile_turtle.