Janna studied Printmaking at the Ilam School of Fine Arts in Christchurch, and graduated with a BFA in 2004. Since then, she has travelled; undertaking residencies in the UK, Europe and the US as well as exhibiting regularly. A Fulbright Award lured her to Chicago, where her love affair with ceramic sculpture began. In 2014, she graduated with a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.