But Jenny was engaged in one of the gentlest forms of traditional art, using clay to make a character study.
It was 1986, and the face of Labour politician and High Court judge Lionel Murphy was emerging from the clay block.
The powerful image of Mr Murphy, who had just died from cancer after his tragic fall from grace, drew tears from the artist.
"Mr Murphy had been such a public figure for so long I felt I knew him, and I was touched when his face appeared in front of me," she said.
The bronze sculpture found a home amid Mr Murphy's friends and associates at the Sydney office of the Lionel Murphy Foundation, which has continued its work long after his death.
ALMOST 20 years and a series of metal sculptures since that emotional creation, Jenny and John are setting up a new venture to give people throughout Australia the opportunity to have such permanent monuments to their "special people".
Their business, based at the couple's home on the southern Moreton Bay islands, aims at honouring not only the deceased but also the living, such as company or family figures.
Jenny has completed a bronze commission from Russell Island RSL sub-branch to commemorate its patron, Bill Branch, who died in 2003.
Without having met Mr Branch, Jenny says she was able to produce the "mask-style" sculpture after research through photographs, talks with his friends and reading about his life.
The sculpture now has pride of place in a cabinet at Russell Island RSL Club, where it eventually will be part of the entry statement after a proposed redevelopment.
Jenny has developed a �special person� tribute package including John's writing abilities in colour presentations, after his 30 years experience as a journalist in three States.
"Jenny's ability to work from photographs means she can provide a service to anyone, anywhere," she says.
"Where viewings of the clay character study are not possible, clients will be able to give approval for the casting after viewing pictures of the clay study."