Life & Work

Jane Hart

Also published as Jane Marks

Three careers and one lifelong habit. Jane was a magazine journalist and wrote five books. Today she paints, and she teaches as a state-licensed, board-certified art therapist.

Jane Hart at a lectern in a black dress and a necklace of coloured beads, smiling.

I. The Writer

Jane began as a journalist. Her writing appeared in Glamour, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Parents, Ladies’ Home Journal, The New York Times and Town & Country. Writing as Jane Marks, she published five books.

  • Cover of The Hidden Children by Jane Marks, with a black and white photograph of a child.
  • Cover of We Have a Problem: A Parent’s Sourcebook by Jane Marks, with two children and a quote from the Gannett News Service.
  • Cover of Stop Screaming by Jane Hart, with a colourful drawing of figures.
  • Cover of The Newer Normal by Jane Hart, an orange cover with a drawing.

Selected books

II. The Art Therapist

Jane left journalism to earn a master’s degree in art therapy, which she has called “a gift for me because of my own painting.” Today she teaches as a state-licensed, board-certified art therapist.

Credentials
MA, ATR-BC, LCAT
Sing Sing
Led the first art therapy group in a New York State men’s maximum-security prison
Westchester
Brought art therapy to the Westchester County jail
Vermont
Art therapy with residents of a shelter for teenage girls
Practice
Her art therapy clients have included hospice patients, incarcerated people, bereaved children, cancer survivors and troubled teenage girls.
Jane Hart standing on a beach in a dark jacket and a blue patterned top, smiling.

“My job is to support their creativity, which in turn supports them and their well-being.”

Jane Hart, River Journal, 2022

III. The Portrait Artist

Jane works in oil, acrylic, pen and pencil. Her portraits range from beloved animals to family and friends, and she often meets her sitters before beginning.

Exhibitions

  • 2022Sugar, Sweat & Stone: Art & HistoryHastings-on-Hudson Village Hall
  • 2021Together ApartArtsWestchester
  • 2021Artwork donated to the “Restart the Arts” Gala AuctionArtsWestchester
  • 2020Selected artist (Phase 2), Riverwalk Community MuralSleepy Hollow, NY

Recognition

  • —Award-winning portraitistFrom Jane’s approved 2019 bio
  • Willy, a portrait by Jane Hart.
  • Stan (Grandson), a portrait by Jane Hart.
  • Tyson, a portrait by Jane Hart.
See the portraits 

IV. The Daily Artist

Every morning, Jane makes a new drawing. Her own description: whimsical, but “full of emotion, too, and full of fun.” Every one of them is kept in the archive.

2,767drawings and counting

  • Drawing No. 2,767, 'Felice was starting to think about Thanksgiving.', posted NOV 12, 2026
  • Drawing No. 2,766, 'Chloe felt weird around Wendell's family.', posted NOV 11, 2026
  • Drawing No. 2,765, 'The cootie chorale could rehearse almost anywhere.', posted NOV 10, 2026
Visit the Daily Drawings 

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