Astral Ride. Janie Packer, artist
By Gina Malone
Janie Packer learned early how therapeutic art can be, and that lesson shaped her own life and caused her to want to share her discovery with others. “Because my family never lived in one place for very long, I often felt lost, with no comforting community,” she says. “I was often behind in my schoolwork because of the constant relocations. Then one day all that changed due to the intervention of two very kind and creative teachers at an elementary school in San Francisco. While they certainly were not bowled over by my academic achievement, they noticed that I would draw lovely little pictures on my math homework papers—probably to make up for the incorrect answers. They got together and decided that because I was good at drawing pictures it would be my job to create bulletin boards for the school library. This was my first experience of having an artistic identity.”
Sad Swimmer. Janie Packer, artist
Janie took that knowledge of the power of art with her when, after obtaining a Master’s in special education, she began teaching. “Many of the children with whom I worked reminded me of my own struggles at a young age,” she says. “Throughout my teaching career, art was always a therapeutic tool in my teaching toolbox.”
Working as an educator, she did not forget how important art—first painting, then sculpture—was to her own life as well. She sold work from galleries and, eventually, from her own studios in Arizona and Florida.
A day at the beach with her family unexpectedly shifted her chosen medium from paint to clay. “My father-in-law jokingly requested that I make a portrait of his face using beach sand,” she says. “It turned out surprisingly well! That was when I decided to pursue sculpture as a way to express myself as an artist. Clay is such an exciting and responsive medium.”
Heartfelt Song. Janie Packer, artist
Her approach was to learn the technical and engineering challenges of working with clay and then to let her imagination take it from there. “Most often, I only have the germ of an idea when I begin a project,” she says. “I begin to build a form and before I know it, a wild dance has begun between the clay and me. It seems to know the steps and where we are headed, so I blithely follow along, taking my cues from a bend or an outcropping in the clay. I just let the dance go on until I have made something. Finally, I step back and see what I’ve got. If it makes me smile, then the refining process begins.”
Her mediums include mid-fired stoneware, glazes, found objects and paint, and she looks upon the process as taking a trip with creativity. “Sculptures are often fired several times until I am pleased with the surface appearance,” she says. “Not all of my artistic journeys end with a successful piece, but many do. Anyway, dancing to the intoxicating music of the muses is enough to make the trip worthwhile, and the sculptures are souvenirs from the road.”
She and her husband moved to Asheville when she retired from teaching. “What attracted us to North Carolina was the abundance of glorious natural beauty,” she says. “How nature affects the human heart has always been evident in my sculpture, paintings and prints. No matter where in nature I find myself, it always soothes my heart and brings me peace.”
Madonna and Child. Janie Packer, artist
Her work is shown regionally at The Lucy Clark Gallery & Studio. In a region where pottery abounds, gallery owner Lucy Clark notes that Janie’s work stands out. “For a long time, I thought that being a potter or ceramicist in Western North Carolina was akin to taking your ‘guitar’ to Nashville,” Clark says. “So much talent exists in the medium, offering many ways to express oneself through the form. Janie Packer’s work has a voice all its own. The emotional component that shines through her work pulls the viewer in and creates an opportunity to connect on a deeper level.”
And that, as it turns out, is Janie’s aim as she creates her pieces so filled with expressiveness. “My work deals with the poignant experience of being human,” Janie says. “The trials, tribulations and joys, the sacred and the mysterious. It is all about compassion, and I hope that resonates with people when they view my art.”
See Janie Packer’s work at The Lucy Clark Gallery & Studio, 51 West Main Street, Brevard. Packer’s Asheville studio is open to visits by appointment. Learn more at ArtByJaniePacker.com.
