Jill [nee Dickson] was born in Dunedin and educated at Otago Girls High School. She trained as a nurse in Dunedin and has nursed in the United Kingdom, Waikato and Whakatane. In 1998 Jill retired from nursing to become a fulltime printmaker and artist. Married with two adult children, she now lives in Whakatane She began painting and exhibiting in 1978. Her art training began under Gordon Tuck and she completed the NZ Correspondence School courses in art and watercolour.

Jill began printmaking in 1983 with Iona Swain.  She taught herself paper making to produce the paper that suits her style of print. High quality pulp blended with plant material is used to make the paper. An old laundry mangle was converted to make her first press. Jill has attended “Jenny Phillips Master Classes” in Botanical Art held in Sydney and Melbourne since 1999. In 1982 she was awarded a Merit award by the Bay of Plenty Exhibition. For thirteen years Jill tutored oil painting and one year in observational drawing for the Adult Education Programme. Jill has tutored paper making groups and given private art lessons for children. New Zealand Native flora and nudes are Jill’s primary subjects for her prints. Studies of fishing flies and Trout have also become popular. Jill is now working in Botanical Art, in water colours and hopes to further this skill in fine art. She has exhibited in Auckland, Kawerau, Whakatane, Gisborne, Timaru, Ashburton, Christchurch, Melbourne, Sydney and Japan. In 1999 Jill exhibited at “Art of This World” in Devonport as sole exhibiter. Many of Jill’s prints and paintings have found homes in America, Britain, Europe, Canada, Japan, Australia, India and Chile.