October Issue 2000
Summer House Gallery Offers Major Pottery Exhibit
The Summer House Gallery in Highlands, NC, will host thirteen of North Carolina's best potters in the exhibition From The Center which will be on view from Oct. 13 - Nov.8. This is a celebration of North Carolina pottery featuring many diverse styles and methods, ceramics that are functional to non-functional to sculptural.
Featured potters will be: Ben Owen, Seagrove, NC, who creates pottery that reflects a foundation of traditional designs as well as oriental translations. The Asian influence has been carried to different levels of interpretation in form and color. The color of pottery can be an equally vital characteristic due to seasons of the year (Japanese red glaze and celadon). Lisa & James Tevia-Clark, Brasstown, NC, specialize in hand thrown and hand built porcelains with intricate carved and impressed relief surfaces. Joe Comeau, Bakersville, NC, works in forms greatly influenced by the aesthetics of the orient. His forms consist mostly of containers. Melisa Comeau, Bakersville, NC, has a passion for figurative work. Her sculptures tell stories of strength and inner beauty, of loss and of new life.
Mark Ferri
Mark Ferri, Asheville, NC, begins his layers of life sculptures by creating a slab-built or coil-produced form. His work is a reflection and a celebration of the layers of life which appear and disappear in the experience of human expression. Ray Kaylor, Robbinsville, NC, uses the ancient celadon and ash glazing and primitive smoke firing techniques on his sculptural porcelain forms. He incorporates the feeling of both the historical and the contemporary. ML Bagwell, Robbinsville, NC, has been influenced by the primitive craft people of the southwestern US, creating a plowl (a deep rim, wide open plate) out of earthenware, unglazed on the outside allowing the clay to speak. The interior is clear glazed over a white background with a black design. Meditation forms the complex geometric patterns.
Lynn Jenkins, Blowing Rock, NC, creates vessels in Raku. The word Raku means "enjoyment of freedom", dating back centuries when the Japanese used it in tea ceremonies of Zen Buddhism. Jenkins incorporates stones within her Raku vessels. Parker Haveron, Raleigh, NC, uses saggar firing in creating his tactile rich, unglazed primitive pots. Saggar firing is considered a cross between pit-fire and Raku. Many of his pots and vessels are wrapped in copper wire before the firing to create an unusual effect. Gay Smith, Bakersville, NC, specializes in wood and salt firing techniques. Fire in a wood kiln moves over the pottery like running water, with the fire and ash leaving their special effects. Salt is introduced at the end of the firing which creates a sodium/clay glaze that is often referred to as an orange-peel texture. Collette Chambers, Cashiers, NC, works in copper and white crackle Raku. She loves the unexpected effects that the firing produces, feeling that the fire has the final brush stroke. Ibby Kenna, Highlands, NC, creates unusual pieces, combining function and sculpture in one piece. The colors and textures of the mountain landscape influence every step of her creative process.
These NC potters/clay sculptors are award winning and have been exhibited across NC and the country. Many have studied at the renowned Penland School, and several have gone on to teach there as well.
The next exhibition at Summer House will feature color photography by Mary Kay Moore, Nov. 3-26.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 828/526-0028 or email to (shgallery@smnet.net).
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