Janelle was born in Alice Springs and attended Kenmore Park School and Woodville High School in Adelaide.
She is an accomplished ceramic artist, working alongside other women of her generation in the ceramics studio. Janelle’s aunts and grandmother also work in the art centre. Her grandmother, Carlene Thompson, is a celebrated artist as is her cousin Anne Nginyangk Thompson. Janelle’s grandfather was one of the leaders of the APY land rights movement.
In 2016 Janelle worked with seven other Ernabella women on a collaborative ceramics installation for the Indigenous Ceramics Art Award at the Shepparton Art Museum. The work was subsequently acquired by the National Museum of Australia and exhibited in Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters.
In 2017 Janelle took a leading role in a commission of over 900 custom made tiles for a luxury hotel. She worked alongside two other Arts Workers to apply underglaze, carve, glaze and fire each individual tile.
Janelle is a dedicated Arts Worker and a rising star of the Ernabella ceramics studio.
