Carolina Arts Unleashed

It’s not too early to make plans for an excursion to the mountains of North Carolina this fall. While making these plans don’t forget an opportunity not to be missed - the 4th Annual Spruce Pine Potters Market will be held on Oct. 10 & 11, 2009, from 10am-5pm, in the Cross Street Building, 31 Cross Street in Spruce Pine, NC.

If you’re going north or even south for fall mountain colors - you’ll also be awed by the variations in colors in the pottery objects being offered at the Potters Market. Make your plans now - don’t get caught later running into good friends braggin’ about all the wonderful things they found in the little town of Spruce Pine on their fall vacation.

Here’s a little bit from a press release:

The visitor to the small mountain counties of Mitchell and Yancey, NC, could be forgiven for being unaware that the area is home to scores of America’s outstanding potters and ceramic artists. But the annual Spruce Pine Potters Market, coming up on the 10th and 11th of October, aims to remedy that situation by providing an opportunity to meet and get to know some of these clay artists “up close and personally”.

This invitational show features thirty of the area’s best potters each year on a rotating basis, in an attractive display space at the peak of autumn leaf season. The event offers visitors and pottery collectors an outstanding opportunity to spend quality time meeting and engaging some very talented clay artists in a comfortable setting that includes unusually creative food vendors as well. Plan to spend a day (or two) mingling with this very special community of gifted and original potters.

The Potters Market is held in the Cross Street Building, a vintage textile mill recently converted into a spacious multi-use facility. Food, refreshments and the work of thirty invited clay artists should provide something of interest for the entire family. The annual downtown Spruce Pine Heritage Festival on Saturday is another bonus for young and old visitors alike.

The invited artists for this year’s 4th Annual Spruce Pine Potters Market includes North Carolina Living Treasures Cynthia Bringle and Norm Schulman, and will include a great variety of pottery, sculpture, and architectural ceramics. The clay artists range in age from their twenties through eighties and specialize in every aspect of ceramic work, from dinnerware to tile to figurative sculpture. Many of these potters are internationally known and have traveled the world in pursuit of their passion.

Participating potters included in this show are: Stan Andersen, Will Baker, Pam Brewer, Cynthia Bringle, Lisa Bruns, Melisa Cadell, Naomi Dalglish, Claudia Dunaway, Jon Ellenbogen, Susan Feagin, Becky Gray, Michael Hunt, Shawn Ireland, Nick Joerling, Michael Kline, Suze Lindsay, Courtney Martin, Linda McFarling, Kent McLaughlin, Shane Mickey, Jane Peiser, Mark Peters, Becky Plummer, Lindsay Rogers, David Ross, Michael Rutkowsky, Norm Schulman, Ken Sedberry, Jenny Lou Sherburne, Gay Smith, Liz Summerfield, Joy Tanner, Tzadi Turrou, Jerilyn Virden, and Susan Whalen.

More information, a list of participants, and travel directions to the show can be found online at (www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com). Or call Jon or Becky at Barking Spider Pottery at 828/765-2670 with any questions.

Home

In my continuing effort to bring you readers info about pottery events - not taking place in Seagrove, NC, we received a short e-mail which told us about a juried pottery exhibit taking place at the Rutherford County Visual Arts Center in Rutherfordton, NC. The e-mail came after our deadlines for both the paper and our website. I’m not including this as a reward for being late, but as an example.

The exhibit, Wheel and Coil and Slab, will be on view at the Arts Center from July 10 through Aug. 31, 2009. The Rutherford County Visual Arts Center is located at 173 N. Main Street in Rutherfordton. They are open Tue.-Sat., 10am-3pm and Fridays until 6:30pm. The Center can be contacted by calling 828/288-5009 or visit (www.rcvag.com).

That last paragraph was about all they sent. It makes me wonder if they are paying by the word for their e-mail or what. I know this is a juried show where they may not have even seen the entries yet, but they could say more. I went to their website - looked at the exhibit prospectus, even sent a return e-mail asking for more info, but received none yet as of this posting.

Since this is a juried show it would be nice to know who will be doing the jurying and if that juror was going to make any cash awards. I receive a lot of info about juried shows and usually they include more info about the juror than info about the exhibit.

There was an entry fee mentioned in the prospectus and a statement that all works entered will be for sale and can be taken by a buyer at any time during the exhibit (70/30 split) - if the artists wanted to they could travel to the Center to replace the work sold - with an unjuried work? So what’s the point of this being a juried show?

With what little I’ve learned about pottery I can tell that the title of the exhibit, Wheel and Coil and Slab, refers to different ways of making pottery, but nothing is offered about that in this e-mail - is there an educational component to this exhibit - I don’t know? Or is it just a clever reference to The Wizard of OZ phrase - Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My?

This e-mail is an example of a lot of info we receive everyday at Carolina Arts - it says less than it should. You usually have more questions after reading.

So, as someone who might read that there will be a juried pottery exhibit offered in Rutherfordton, NC, during a 50 day period - why should I go see this show? If Cynthia Bringle was the juror, would that pique your interest? If the Best of Show award was $10,000 would that make you want to see that work? If the Center was going to be posting text panels describing various techniques used in making pottery along with live demonstrations - would that make you interested in visiting this exhibit?

As an editor of a visual arts newspaper this kind of e-mail just represents more work on my part. I have enough work to do already - I’m looking for the easy e-mail to process. This particular e-mail came after deadline and in this case will be set aside for the August issue - meaning that readers might not see it until 20 days after it has already started. Maybe too late for someone to go see it. This particular e-mail will get some publicity here, but not the kind I’m sure they wished it would get.

This juried show may be a wonderful exhibit - if so, it deserved a better and more timely press release, but then again I’ve seen many a show that didn’t stand up to the press release sent about it. So what’s an exhibit viewer to do. I know I make my decisions by what the press release says - even if at times the show doesn’t hold up to what was said. You always learn something, but I won’t travel on so little info. Do you?

The other point is - there are so many choices. I also received (after deadline) info about a pottery exhibit at the Crabtree Creek Art & Floral Gallery in Micaville, NC. They are presenting the exhibit, Imagery in Clay, featuring distinctive works by Ken Sedberry, on view from July 2 - 28, 2009. And, there’s a great pottery show at The Bascom in Highlands, NC. The exhibit, The Three Potters: Bringle, Hewitt and Stuempfle, is on view through July 11, 2009, This show features wheel-thrown and hand built work, some 30-40 pieces, by master artists Cynthia Bringle, Mark Hewitt and David Stuempfle.

A good press release can make the difference in why someone selects your exhibit to go see it above all others. That’s the lesson of the day.

But, if I was traveling all the way to Rutherfordton or Micaville, why not go visit Michael Kline Pottery in Bakersville, NC. But, you might want to give him a call first at (828-675-4097) he’s a busy guy. He’s also a blogger. And, if you go there you should stop by the gallery at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, NC.

Boy, this is turning into an adventure. No matter where you go, there is always something else interesting near by, and that’s why you need Carolina Arts to let you know - just what that is, where it is, and when it’s taking place. Would you go to the opera without a program? Not me.

And, finally for the record. David Stuempfle is a Seagrove, NC, potter and Mark Hewitt is a board member of the NC Pottery Center in Seagrove. You just can’t mention pottery in North Carolina and not have this area show up. Well, at least it seems I can’t find a way not to find the Seagrove connection.

Home

First off is the Cousins in Clay event on June 6 & 7, 2009, at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove featuring works by Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke of Bulldog and invited guest and “clay cousin” Michael Kline from Bakersville, NC.

This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet the artists and add to your pottery collection or begin one. The event begins Sat. June 6 at 9am and continues through 5pm. On Sun. June 7 you can come by at 10am and stay till 4pm, but if you do that - you should buy something. And, why wouldn’t you - all three potters make wonderful works of art - and functional too.

On June 20, 2009, from 10am - 4pm at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove you can come shop at the Pots from the Attic Fundraiser, a once-in-a-lifetime sale of slightly worn pots. I wondered what that meant so I asked and was told, “this could be anything that is chipped, broken, repaired, or just heavily used with signs of wear. Most of the pots for this event will be from the Dr. Everette James Collection with some other pots from various donors. This will be an outright sale of pots, so folks can browse around and see the pieces and prices and take them home that day.” Sounds like a deal. The good Dr. is once again coming to the aid of the Pottery Center.

You might want to come early for the best selection, but you also might want to stick around until 2pm when a booksigning for The Living Tradition - North Carolina Potters Speak, will take place till 4pm. This book includes interviews by Michelle Francis and Charles “Terry” Zug III of 20 of North Carolina’s most distinguished potters with photographs by Rob Amberg, all edited by Denny Hubbard Mecham, the Pottery Center’s former director.

The potters included in the book are: Paulus Berensohn, Jennie Bireline, Cynthia Bringle, Charles Davis Brown, Kim Ellington, Mark Hewitt, MaryLou Higgins, Nick Joerling, Ben Owen III, Vernon Owens, Pam Owens, Jane Peiser, Hal Pugh, Eleanor Pugh, Will Ruggles, Douglas Rankin, Caroleen Sanders, Norman Schulman, Michael Sherrill, Tom Spleth, Hiroshi Sueyoshi, Tom Suomalainen, and Neolia Cole Womack.

The book was published for the North Carolina Pottery Center by Goosepen Press and is available at the NC Pottery Center for $29.95, (cloth, 192 pages) and on this day between 2 - 4pm you can get your copy or copies signed. They’ll let you buy as many copies as you need - Christmas is right around the corner.

The interviews intimately reveal the “aspirations and attitudes” of clay-working in a contemporary, diverse tradition. From the “fast nickel” or the “slow dime” and the practicalities of pricing and selling, to technical discussions of kiln building, clay processing, throwing, glazing, and firing, to the spirituality of the creative process and the medium of clay as a “reflection of life,” potters from across the state vivify the struggle and reward of their lives and work.

Luminous photographs by Rob Amberg complement the artists ’ own words – revelatory of character and ripe with anecdote – in this culmination of a documentary project by the North Carolina Pottery Center to promote and protect North Carolina’s unique pottery-making history.

The book’s description is not in my words - as if you couldn’t tell, but I believe them - the Pottery Center is a first-class operation.

Now, if you haven’t figured it out yet or you’re new to this blog - I’m a big fan of the North Carolina Pottery Center and the potters of Seagrove - all 100 + of them. I like other potters too, in other parts of the Carolinas, but as long as they need me - I’m trying to be their biggest fan and that’s going to take a lot if I’m even hoping to get close to how big a fan Dr. Everette James is, which might not be possible.

Well, if people from all over the Carolinas and beyond, if there is such a place, would start traveling to Seagrove and taking lots of pots home with them (after paying for them) and told people in Seagrove that I made it sound like they were really missing out on something - maybe then - some people might think I’m as good as the “good Dr.” But, that would take a lot of people. I’d settle for second-best fan.

So, what if you just can’t go to Seagrove? I’m thinking. The concept just doesn’t compute, but I guess if it’s not possible, the Pottery Center can take orders for the book if you call 336/873-8430 or e-mail to (ncpc@atomic.net).

All proceeds from The Living Tradition and the Pots from the Attic Fundraiser directly benefit the North Carolina Pottery Center - if you use this link you can even go download sample pages from the book.

If you don’t need a book or a pot - you can go to the website and make a donation to the Center.

As far as the Cousins in Clay event - I hear it’s even possible to go to the websites of potters (links above) and see works there and purchase them by credit card and have them shipped to your door. You all know how to use credit cards, don’t you? Well, I mean our American readers know what that’s all about.

I guess that would be OK, but I still have a hard time getting my head around why you can’t go to Seagrove. What else are you doing in June? Cutting grass? You know there’s no NFL Europe anymore.

Home