Date of birth: May 5, 1942
Place of birth: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Date of death: December 1, 2017
Place of death: Mt. Pleasant, Michigan
Jan Van Hoesen lived in northeastern lower Michigan with a large menagerie of wild animals for live study. She held a teaching degree from Michigan State University, and served on the Board of Directors of the Michigan Taxidermist Association, the International Guild of Taxidermy, the National Taxidermists Association and the United Taxidermist Association. Jan established her world-class credentials in the early 1990’s when she took top honors at major taxidermy competitions with her outstanding mammal work, including winning the 1992 World Champion title for mammal taxidermy. She was also a respected taxidermy judge at all levels of competition, including the World Championships.
Jan Van Hoesen burst onto the scene with multiple wins at all levels of competition, winning the top awards at state, regional, national, international and World shows. She not only impressed the judges, but won numerous People’s Choice awards as well. It was always a treat for attendees anticipating what Jan would bring to a competition. Each of her small mammal entries showed a exciting new take on the species. The poses she chose had never been seen before in any taxidermy works. They all seem to capture subtle moments in animal behavior that portrayed the elusive “essence of the species” that all taxidermists strive for, but few achieve.
Jan had a secret weapon in understanding the finer points of anatomy and attitude. She lived with dozens of live animals at her home. She had bobcats and lynxes as pets in her house, and also raised raccoons, foxes and coyotes. This intimate knowledge of animal behavior gave her the inspiration to create works which always portrayed an accurate representation of nature.
Her backyard was a maze of cages, pens and hutches. She loved all the residents of her wildlife menagerie and took great care of them. As live reference is always best, she studied their behavior for hours at a time. The photographs she made of her mammals became some of the best-selling reference photo sets which are still carried to this day by major taxidermy supply companies.
When Jan was an active taxidermist, she specialized only in custom small mammal taxidermy. She did not produce assembly-line work. Each pose was carefully and artistically chosen to match the specimen. Instead of purchasing commercial mannikins off-the-shelf, Jan would meticulously cast, mold, sculpt, and create a new custom mannikin for each piece. The result was always a one-of-a-kind work of art. Through Jan’s unique knowledge of animal behavior and her artistic talent, she created beautiful works of taxidermy art which portray the very essence of the animal with honesty and dignity.
Jan was active in the politics of taxidermy, using her skills to advance the art and organizations for the betterment of the profession. She served on many boards, including the Michigan Taxidermist Association, the International Guild of Taxidermy, and the National Taxidermists Association. She was a Lifetime Charter Member of the United Taxidermist Association and served on its very first Board of Directors.
For many years, Jan sculpted mannikins for several major supply companies, and developed a line of realistic earliners as well as reference photo sets. She valliently battled the blood disease Mylodysplastic Syndrome for the final years of her life. She continued to occasionally judge competitions up until her death in 2017.
