Meet Janet McGregor Dunn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Janet McGregor Dunn.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve been doing something artistic since I could hold a crayon. In high school, I managed to squeeze in 3 to 4 art classes a day by doing classwork at home. I majored in art but didn’t finish as I married and moved to North Carolina, then to New York. I continued with my art, doing shows back when that meant popping a table up in a field.

I started out as an oil, acrylic and watercolor painter. A friend took me to her mother’s ceramic studio in Cabbage Town one day after work many years ago. Her mother put some clay in my hands, and I have never looked back. Clay married up every type of art I had dabbled with over the years, and I now think clay must run through my veins!

Before moving to hand building I worked on a wheel, throwing. I tried a treadle, a kick wheel, and an electric wheel before finally realizing I simply couldn’t sit still. I also couldn’t stand doing anything twice. I still have an electric wheel which I’ll pull out occasionally, but I joke that it’s more like that old piece of exercise equipment many use to hold their clothes — I stack boxes on mine.

Recently I did a mosaic workshop with Helen Helwig, Carrollton, GA. Since then I have been making ceramic pieces and am working on a number of clay mosaics. I have also created a few glass mosaics and finished a birdbath. I’m enjoying the new direction.

Please tell us about your art.
I look at ceramics as a never-ending adventure. I experiment all the time. Every piece I create is unique — given the way I work it would be difficult to repeat a piece exactly, and I feel stifled if I try. I am also not a fan of symmetry, and I adore textures. I use an old doily made by my great grandmother as texture in numerous pieces. I feel like I am passing along her talent and a bit of love and history in the pieces.

I love the freedom I have with hand building. I love knowing that if I were to live ten lifetimes, I would still be finding new things to do with my clay. People use a variety of techniques to put themselves to sleep…I create new pieces and work out clay problems.

I work with a wide variety of clays, choosing the type depends on what I want to create. Sometimes I’ll see a new body of clay and grab a bag so I can experiment. One piece can take an entire day or more to create. Then comes the wait as it dries, is bisque fired, glazed, then fired again. Sometimes a piece will take up to two months from start to finish.

All of my pieces have multiple layers of glazes. I glaze, wipe some off, let it dry, glaze with a different color until I think I have a winning combination. Many times I’m simply experimenting, and the unveiling (opening the kiln) is a complete surprise. I often glaze fire multiple times with 12 being my record (and one I am never going to try to achieve again!). I will add glass and other additions during some of the glaze fires.

The finished pieces are often described as “organic” or “flowing”.

I incorporate bits of nature into my work during and after. I may use driftwood, seashells, semi-precious stones, glass to finish a piece. I have added pine straw, barley, leaves, and other items when building a piece.

It is so fulfilling when someone walks into my studio, my tent at an art show or a gallery and I see them make a connection with one of my pieces. I get a kick out of it when someone comes in and tells me a story about a piece.

I name most of my creations. Sometimes I know the name before I start, sometimes it comes to me as I’m making it and on occasion someone else names it.

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
Art and artists have always played an important role in the world, and it is ever-changing. At art shows, we frequently discuss the changes that are occurring in the art world. Many are pessimistic, many are optimistic. The Internet, the easy availability of art online…the list of factors impacting the art world is long.

I’ve always felt that if someone had art in their bones if it was part of their makeup, they would express it somehow. I follow a lot of artists online and am constantly amazed by the way they express themselves. If we are born artists, we will make art from paper clips or sticks or whatever is on hand if we can’t afford paints or clay or materials.

When I get frustrated with the world, with national or international events, I head to the studio. The act of creation is a counter to all the negative happenings in the world. Clay is a positive medium. I am the eternal optimist….which helps when I’m trying some crazy experiment with my clay!

Art evokes emotions, good and bad. It can soothe, it can bring joy. And it connects us Sometimes it simply completes a room. The world would be a sad, boring, sorry place without art. Looking a piece of art is like listening to a song — it connects us with memories.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The best way to support my work is to buy it! 🙂

My art is in the following galleries:
Artisans on the Square, Greenville, GA
Arts Clayton Gallery, Jonesboro, GA
Dogwood Gallery and Framer, Tyrone, GA
Higher Art Gallery, Traverse City, MI
Macon Arts Alliance Gallery, Macon, GA
Markay Gallery, Marietta, GA
Westside Market, Tocco Hills, GA

My studio is open by appointment in Fayetteville (just outside Peachtree City, 4 miles from Pinewood Movie Studios). 404-290-3638 or janet@janetmcgregordunn.com.

I also participate in the annual Southern Hands Artist Studio Tour held in Fayette and Coweta counties the 2nd weekend in November. Artists of all walks open their studios to the public. There are art demonstrations; the opportunity to try creating some art and art is offered for sale.

I have lightened up on my show schedule but will be part of:
River Clay Fine Arts Festival, Decatur, AL (Sept 22 & 23)
Tennessee Arts and Crafts, Nashville, TN (Oct 12 – 14)
Magnolia Fine Arts Festival, Peachtree City, GA (Oct 21 – 22)
Southern Hands Artist Studio Tour (Nov 9 – 11)

Contact Info:

• Address: 614 Lester Road, Fayeteville, GA (by appointment only)
• Website: janetmcgregordunn.com
• Phone: 404-290-3638
• Email: janet@janetmcgregordunn.com OR janetmcgregordunn@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/janetmcgregordunn / @jmcgregordunn
• Facebook: facebook.com/janetmcgregordunn OR facebook.com/jmcgregordunn
• Other: pinterest.com/jmcgregordunn

Image Credit:
Art photos by Barry Vangrov

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