Meet Our Featured Artist
Amber Waves
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Introducing Kathleen Janke
Making art has become a way of life for our Featured Artist, Kathleen Janke, of Townsend, Tennessee. Kathy dabbled in oil painting for decades before she added weaving baskets, and more specifically, weaving gourd baskets to her artistic pursuits. Her winning entry in the Summer 2025 Gourd Crafting Contest, Where Sand Meets Water, [GB 300] combines pine needle basketry with gourds. She had entered the Gourd Crafting Contest a few times over the years, but this piece is her first winning entry. Pine Needle Gourd Basketry is Kathy’s passion. “Baskets can become functional pieces of the working household; however, my baskets aren’t meant for muffins!” By wrapping and coiling the Southern Long Leaf Pine Needles together and attaching them to a gourd, she starts weaving with a plan or idea. As she’s weaving, the basket takes on a life of its own. “It takes me down a path I haven’t traveled before and evolves into an artistic journey for me. Each basket is unique and becomes more than the sum of its parts.” For many years Kathy worked full time while spending a lot of time thinking about her art. At that time she produced an oil painting about every 5 years. She worked as a dispatcher for police, fire, and ambulance in the Chicago area for many years before moving to Tennessee. There she and her mother owned and operated a campground, gas station, convenience store and deli. Kathleen also worked in landscaping before building and running her very successful Gracehill Bed and Breakfast. Serendipity came into play when Covid-19 struck. Says Janke, “When Covid hit I closed my business for 58 days and concentrated on art.” During that time she finished 7 oil paintings, wove her first 24 gourd baskets, and started experimenting with alcohol inks. When she reopened her B & B she began selling her artwork. A year later she “took a leap of faith,” sold the B&B and started to build a home and attached gallery and studio. Gracehill Fine Arts and Basketry is open Wednesday through Sunday each week. She teaches gourd basketry classes on some Mondays and Tuesdays, her “days off.” Her posted hours span 28 hours a week but she averages working about 50. “Reducing the number of posted hours gives me more flexibility. I can always open earlier and stay open later if I want to and often do.” Many of her students have first visited her gallery. Others have found their way to her studio via word of mouth. When asked if making art feels different when she supports herself by doing so, Janke replied, “OH YES! It is no longer a hobby I love; it’s a full time job that I love and, not often, but occasionally, don’t love as I get bogged down in paperwork!” In addition to pieces she sells in her gallery, Kathy takes special custom orders. She has a page on her website that walks people through the process with questions she will be asking them. Townsend, TN, is a tourist town, the gateway to Cades Cove and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Often tourists who have flown into the area ask her to ship their art home to them, which she is happy to do. Pricing her artwork is a topic artists often confront, and there are many considerations. As she says, “It really depends on the person selling. Are they just trying to make costs? Get paid for their time? Is it part time income, or is selling their art how they make their living?” Janke tries to carry gourd baskets in many different price points. In the gallery right now they are priced between $98 and $1100. In determining her pricing, she doubles the material costs, pointing out that the time she spends sourcing materials is considerable. Then she determines a price per hour. She points out that if the art is going to be placed in a show where a commission must be paid, that will have an effect on pricing also. Keeping a gallery well stocked with just her own art work is challenging. All her gourd baskets are one of kind. A few months after opening Gracehill Fine Art and Basketry Kathy realized she would not be able to keep up with sales by having only gourd baskets and original alcohol inks. She started putting images of her alcohol ink pieces on mugs, tumblers, puzzles, aprons, totes etc. They now account for about 30% of her sales. Janke has won numerous awards for her art. She is a firm believer that unless you enter various competitions you’ll never know what you might achieve. She considers being selected as the recipient of the State of Tennessee 2024 Fellowship Award for Craft to be her greatest accomplishment. She had been dissuaded by others from applying for this $5,000 grant, as she would be competing with every crafter in any medium in the entire state, but she entered anyway and was shocked when notified of her success. She advises gourd artists, “Don’t ever hesitate to enter and keep entering or you will never know what the possibilities may be.” To see more of Kathleen Janke’s art, visit her website, www.GracehillArt.com / [email protected]. For further information on Kathleen Janke’s artistic process, follow the link below to a You Tube Interview done earlier this year by Greg Downs for a segment in his series, “Hand Made,” produced for a local TV station. 
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