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A P R I L / M AY 2 0 1 9 M A C O N M A G A Z I N E . C O M 1 1 9 Featured Artist LAURA COOPER Laura Cooper was born in South Georgia, reared all around the Peach State, and currently resides near Athens with her two amazing kids. Cooper began her studies of Fine Art at The Savannah College of Art and Design as a painter, but ten years later that she found clay. It has since been almost eight years since her initial introduction to the material and the prolific potter still finds herself consistently challenged and infatuated with the medium. Cooper works as an independent artist and is a member of Long Road Studios, a collective of ceramic artists. Her current work is primarily focused on gestural interpretations of various types of vessels. Cooper's interest in texture, repetition, subtleties, and creating a certain cadence allows her forms to be disciplined and organic. Cooper calls the irregularities that disrupt the form very fascinating and finds an alluring aesthetic value in imperfection and surfaces that seem a little worn. To learn more about the artist or about Long Road Studios, visit longroadstudios.com. Featured Artist JANET MCGREGOR DUNN While Janet McGregor Dunn has been dabbling with art since she could first hold a crayon, her first arts career began with a paintbrush in hand. She began her clay journey using wheels, but quickly moved to hand building. McGregor Dunn combines her love of nature, music and color in each piece of pottery. Most of her pieces are hand-formed and all are one-of-a-kind. She brings the outdoors into some of her work, using straw, rocks, plants or other found objects from the woods surrounding her studio. The initial creation of a piece might take days. After finishing a piece, it dries for a week or two, then is fired in an electric kiln for around 12 – 14 hours. It then sits and cools for roughly three days. All her clay pieces, whether functional or decorative, have multiple glazes and many have added glass. Each glaze firing takes anywhere from five to seven hours, with up to two days of cooling time before being removed from the kiln. Dunn began selling her clay creations at art festivals and various galleries about nine years ago and has received numerous awards at shows through the years. Learn more about the artist at janetmcgregordunn.com. THANKS TO OUR FIRED WORKS SPONSORS: Burgess Pigment Company Cox Communications Dr. R. Kirby Godsey Navicent Health Piedmont Construction MEDIA Macon Magazine Cox Media The Telegraph Macon-Middle Georgia Black Pages macon365.com Visit Macon