Jane Penfield is a signature member of the Pastel Society of America and Connecticut Pastel Society, and an elected member of American Artists Professional League and Lyme Art Association. Her work reflects her affinity for the natural world, as well as to the human influence on it. She is especially attracted to elements that evoke light, drama, and emotion. Her work is an impression of light and life as she has experienced it through walking, travel, and direct observation.

Jane holds a bachelor's degree from Mount Holyoke College and a masters degree from the Hartt School of the University of Hartford. She is past president of Connecticut Pastel Society and of Arts Center East. She teaches a weekly online class in pastel painting as well as demonstrations and workshops for many organizations throughout the state and beyond. 

Jane was the Best in Show winner in 2020 and again in 2022 in the Connecticut Pastel Society's member show. Her work has been exhibited in many venues, including Lyme Art Association, the Salmagundi Club in New York, the New Haven Paint & Clay Club, the New Britain Museum of American Art, the Slater Museum, the office of the Secretary of the State, and many juried shows throughout the Northeast. Her commissioned pieces hang in the homes of many private collectors, as well as Prudential's Hartford office.