Flowers and figures continued to be the principal subjects of Jane's output through the 1980s. At the invitation of Denis Cohn, she sent a work, Inside the Garden IV, one of her first poppy paintings, to a group exhibition, Nine New Zealand Artists, in Auckland. A large, vibrant gouache in reds and ultramarine blue, it caused much interest and was immediately purchased.

This success resulted in an invitation for a solo show in 1985. Sales were to begin at 10 am on 8 July. A queue formed on the stairs before 9 am and Denis Cohn fielded telephone calls from as far away as Dunedin. Cohn commented that he had never experienced an opening like it and joked that he would wear a crash helmet when the doors opened. Nervously excited by the buzz that foreshadowed the opening, Jane had positioned herself at a coffee bar around the corner from the gallery. She had asked a friend, Maunu Stephens, to 'scout' for her. Moments after the gallery opening hour he appeared to tell her that everything had been sold.

That evening Jane attended the official opening, amazed and elated at the sellout result.

p. 72 Jane Evans, John Coley, Hazard press, 1997