Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 68

Janet Browning makes her home in
Jonesborough, Tennessee.
WHITNEY S WILLIAMS

"I want to come back and buy everything
one of these people has to sell."
JANET
BROWNING'S
FAVORITE
TENNESSEE
MOUNTAIN
ARTISTS
* Bill Lyons, wood carver, Roan
Mountain: "He is one of my most
prolific and very, very Appalachian
artists. He carves the bearded man
motif on walking sticks and plaques,
carves bears and makes wooden
birdhouses."
* David Radeker, stone planter
craftsman, Cosby: "He lives in the
Smoky Mountains and does a lot of
things with rocks ... concrete planters
with semi-precious stones embedded
in the rims."
* Jennie Dorris, wind chime maker,
Johnson City: "Jennie uses found
objects such as tea pots and watering
cans to create unique wind chimes.
The chimes are both visually interesting
and lovely to listen to, and each is one
of a kind."

-NH

68

BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM

tors gave them, Browning turned to her
daughter and said, "I want to come back
and buy everything one of these people
has to sell."
Six months later, she did just that.
Soon she was journeying to Venezuela
twice a year to buy from the native artisans, whom she found with the help of
a guide.
Today, the Jonesborough, Tennessee,
resident spends much of her time taking
small groups to faraway lands to savor
the local culture and bring back goods for
her Main Street gift shop, Hands Around
the World.
An admitted "travel-holic," Browning
has never lived more than 13 miles from
her hometown of Limestone, the birthplace of frontiersman Davy Crockett. An
artistic child, she remembers drawing pictures of family members gathered around
the Thanksgiving table. "They were probably very rough, but my family, who was
always very supportive anyway, just went
nuts over them," she says.

In high school, a teacher fueled her
talent by letting her retreat to the supply
room during class to pursue oil painting
and other more sophisticated projects. After earning her art degree from East Tennessee State University, Browning taught
in Greeneville public schools for seven
years before quitting her job and moving
to Jonesborough, a place she had always
wanted to live.
"Jimmy Neil [Smith]'s storytelling program was just taking off," she says, "and
it was becoming a very progressive little
town."
She started giving private art lessons
and, before long, Janet Browning School
of Art, an after-school enrichment program, had grown to include eight, mostly
southeastern states and 100 teachers. For
10 summers, Browning and her family
headed to Myrtle Beach, where she offered children's art classes during the day
and sketched portraits on the boardwalk
at night.
By the time Browning visited the Ama-


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Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019

Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - Cover1
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 3
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 5
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 6
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 7
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 8
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 10
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 12
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 13
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 14
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 16
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 17
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 18
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 20
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 21
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 22
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 25
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 26
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 34
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 38
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 40
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 44
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 46
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 50
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 52
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 54
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 55
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 57
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 59
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 60
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 62
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 63
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 66
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 67
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 68
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 69
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 70
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 71
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 72
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 73
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - 74
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - January/February 2019 - Cover4
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