Janet Mansfield has been a potter for more than 40 years. After training in ceramics at the National Art School, East Sydney, in 1964, '65, she has exhibited widely in Australia and overseas. She is represented in major public collections and her work has appeared in international publications. She has been an invited participant in symposiums, conferences and as a juror in many countries.

A member of the International Academy of Ceramics since 1982 and currently president, Janet Mansfield has received a number of awards including the Order of Australia Medal for her services to ceramic art.

In 1990 she received the Emeritus Award for art from the Australia Council. Lifetime achievement awards include Ceramic Art Foundation, based in New York, 1999; Friends of Contemporary Ceramics, 2003; International Ceramics Festival, UK, 2003; and National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in 2004. In 2004 she was awarded a Doctor of Letters from the University of Tasmania.

Over the 40 years of her ceramic practice she has been president of the Potters’ Society of Australia, president of the Crafts Council of NSW and president of the Ceramic Study Group. She was editor of Pottery in Australia between 1976 and 1989. She is an exhibiting member of The Australian Ceramics Association. She has written six books on ceramics. She established, as publisher/editor, the journals Ceramics: Art and Perception and Ceramics Technical (1990–2008), international publications of high quality, and is now publishing books under the name of Mansfield Press.

For many years she has worked in the salt-glaze and wood firing ceramics aesthetic, giving workshops and lecturing internationally on this subject.