I’m sure some of you can’t wait until this exhibit has come and gone and I know one of those people is Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery in Seagrove, NC. This was all her idea, and I’m sure she’ll be more careful about expressing those ideas out loud in the future. It’s been a lot of extra work and worry for her, but like all good things – nothing good comes easily.
Work by Angela Walford of Adelaide, Australia
I’m sure Meredith has ended many a day in the last months thinking – “Why didn’t I just stick to my day job?” But thank your lucky stars that there are people like Heywood in this world – they bring us the little extras in life which many times makes the difference. The difference that inspires someone else to do something extra. The difference that makes someone go the extra mile – the difference between do and didn’t.
So what did she do? Well, Meredith Heywood made the pottery “world” a little smaller and brought a taste of it to the Carolinas. And, all you have to do to experience it is go see the exhibit in Southern Pines, and if you can’t do that – at least explore the link mentioned at the bottom of this blog entry.
Works by Emily Murphy of Minneapolis, MN
But if you really want to participate you can click the link to go to the Arts Council of Moore County’s Clay and Blog Online Gallery – where you can buy pottery by participating artists.
Here’s an article we offered in the Oct. 2010 issue of Carolina Arts, plus a few photos of some of the pottery with a link to the potter’s blog.
Arts Council of Moore County in Southern Pines, NC, Offers Exhibit of Blogging Potters
Work by Hitomi Shibata of Seagrove, NC
The Arts Council of Moore County in Southern Pines, NC, will present the exhibit, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, featuring works by clay artists from throughout the world, on view at the Campbell House Galleries, from Oct. 1 – 29, 2010.
The exhibition was organized and curated by Meredith Heywood of Whynot Pottery in Seagrove, NC. It is hoped that the exhibit will give a glimpse into the unique community of 50 working potters who are separated by distance, but brought together through the common language of clay and the written word in a digital world. These potters share their lives, skills, thoughts, triumphs and defeats through an on-line medium called a blog or web log.
Works by Hollis Engley of E. Falmouth, MA
Heywood offering the following about how this show came about. “Two years ago I was planning a show with a friend who is a collector. We had planned to pull together a show from the prospective of the maker, buyer and collector. My friend’s life became very busy and we had a fire at our pottery studio. For me during the ups and downs and trials of the fire, I found great strength through writing about what we were going through on my blog. But what pulled it all together for me were the comments which came back from the readers. The positive reinforcement that I needed was out there. I was not alone. I was also touched at how sharing the potters were. They were willing to share what they have learned and encourage other potters to step out and try new things.”
Work by Jim Gottuso of Louisville, KY
“I found that different potters blog for different reasons. The blogs run from very personal to very business- like, but none of them are without that personal element. The blogs are like daily or weekly diaries into the life of a potter. Some make me laugh and some make me think. But what I found was a real connection between me and what was being written.”
Work by Michael Mahan of Seagrove, NC
The idea to organize an exhibit featuring works by these blogging potters evolved and before Heywood knew it, the blog connections had spread from Seagrove throughout the US, into Canada and Europe – going as far away as Australia.
Works by Tracey Broome of Chapel Hill, NC
The exhibition includes works by the following artists and bloggers: Blanie Avery, Seagrove, NC; Tim Ayers, Lewisville, NC; Zygote Blum, Stockton, CA; Tracey Broome, Chapel Hill, NC; Kyle Carpenter, Asheville, NC; Meagan Chaney, Ocala, FL; Joe & Christy Cole,Mineral Point, WI; Barbara Edwards, Berkeley, CA; Hollis Engley, E. Falmouth, MA; Carole Epp, Saskatoon, Canada; Dan Finnegan; Fredericksburg, VA; Doug Fitch, Devon, United Kingdom; Bruce Gholson & Samantha Henneke, Seagrove, NC; Jim Gottuso, Louisville, KY; Tom Gray, Seagrove, NC; Peter Gregory, Otago, New Zeagland; Patricia Griffin, Cambria, CA; Mark & Meredith Heywood, Seagrove, NC; Kari Weaver Hopkins, Burnsville, NC; Paul Jessop, Ilminster, United Kingdom; Michael Kline, Bakersville, NC; Po-Wen Liu, Greensboro, NC; Chris Luther, Seagrove, NC; Michael Mahan, Seagrove, NC; Renee Margocee, Charleston, WV; Jeff Martin, Boone, NC; Hannah McAndrew, Castle Douglas, United Kingdom; Jennifer Mecca, York, SC; Pru Morrison, Brisbane, Australia; Emily Murphy, Minneapolis, MN; Ron Philbeck, Shelby, NC; Brandon Phillips, Abilene, TX; Gary Rith, Ithaca, NY; Mel Robson, Brisbane, Australia; Cindy Shake, Anchorage, AK; Kitty Shepherd, Granada, Spain; Hitomi & Takuro Shibata, Seagrove, NC; Judy Shreve, Johns Creek, GA; Annie Singletary, Black Mountain, NC; Alex & Nancy Solla, Trumansburg, NY; Linda Starr, Lecanto, FL; Joy Tanner, Bakersville, NC; Judi Tavill, Rumson, NJ; Julia Wilkins, Mountain West, UT; and Angela Walford, Adelaide, Australia.
You can make your own connection with these bloggers by visiting Heywood’s blog at (http://whynotpotteryblog.blogspot.com/). At the top of her blog page is a link to the other 50 blogs.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Arts Council at 910/692-4356 or visit (www.mooreart.org).