Here’s an opportunity to purchase something unique and help the NC Pottery Center at the same time. Imagine owning a painting – yes, I said painting by Mark Hewitt, Cynthia Bringle, or Vernon Owens – great potters, but not known as painters – other than painting glazes on their pots. Now that would be a conversation piece for any pottery collector at any level. If you’re the highest bidder – you might be able to brag of such a possession.

But don’t get me wrong in thinking that owning one of these paintings will just be a novelty – some of these people are very talented with a brush and canvas. As you may know – artists are talented people – many are multi-talented as you’ll see when you check out the 80 canvases being offered on the Pottery Center’s website.

Work by Mark Hewitt

Can’t be there on Feb. 4th – no worries. You can make your absentee bid online at the Pottery Center’s website, but it won’t be the same as being there during the event in the heat of the action. There’s nothing worse than learning that your silent bid was topped out by $2 – especially when you would have paid much more. So, if you can’t make it and will be making an absentee bid online – remember to bid as high as you would go to have one of these special works and that the money is going to help the NC Pottery Center keep its doors open. That’s what art auctions are all about – helping out and getting something in return – not just getting a bargain.

And if you bid against me – remember that I’m the publisher of a newspaper – like Rupert Murdoch – once I make a bid – others might as well stand down or dig very, very, deep into their pockets. We’re used to getting what we want. All I have to do is make sure I don’t come with a pair of my pants that has holes in the pockets. I wonder if Rupert has that problem?

Here’s the press release:

The North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, the center of pottery in North Carolina, invited NC clay artists to work outside their regular palette by creating a 12″ x 12” canvas, using any medium they desired. The response has been a wide array of creativity, which is only to be expected by the talented potters of NC. On Feb. 4, 2012, the public will have the opportunity to bid on these outstanding palettes and the opportunity to own a canvas. Truly a one-of-a-kind piece to complement any pottery collection! Many of the artists will be featured guests, and there will be several clay creations to complement the canvases available to purchase as well, making it really a one of a kind purchase. The canvases are posted on the NC Pottery Center’s website at (http://ncpotterycenter.org/canvases.html) with absentee bidding offered until Feb. 1, 2012, at 4pm.

The fun and festive event begins at 4pm on Feb. 4, 2012, with Irish tunes played by Michael Mahan, Seagrove potter, painter and musician and Phil Winn of Greensboro, NC, and includes a scrumptious buffet featuring an array of delicious hors d’oeuvres from gourmet bites to seafood and cheeses to desserts and festive beverages. An event not to be missed!

Work by Bruce Gholson

Response from the potters and the public has been hugely enthusiastic. Potters from all areas of NC have painted and the canvases are all are currently on display at the North Carolina Pottery Center. Certain themes have spontaneously emerged including birds, especially roosters, fish, cows, houses, pottery imagery as well as some abstracts and mixed media with some surprises and real gems and many have associated stories, some of which are outlined below.

Tickets are $15 per person, or $25 for a pair, and are available through the website or by calling 336/873-8430 and also a limited quantity at the door. We encourage purchase in advance.

Work by Levi Mahan

Piedmont Area Potter Painters include: Tom Suomalaine, Crystal King, Donna Craven & Susan Greene, Janice & Bruce Latham, Paula Smith, Eck & Fiva & Milly McCanless, Joseph Sand, Hal & Eleanor Pugh, Michael & Levi Mahan, Mary Holmes, Susan McGehee, Ben & LoriAnn Owen, Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson, Beth Gore, Chad Brown, Daniel Johnston, Kate Waltman, John Viegland, Stephanie Martin, Charlotte Wooten, Abe Fenberg, Jeff Brown, Michele Hastings, Fred Johnston, Carol Gentithes, Vernon Owens, Pam Owens, Jennie Lorette Keatts, Phillip Pollet, Alexa Modderno, Bonnie Burns, Bobbie Thomas, Scott Thomas, Tom Gray, Mary Farrell, Meredith Heywood, Ann Raven Jorgensen, Vicki Gill, and Jared Zehmer.

Charlotte Area Potter Painters Include: Andrew Linton, Caroleen Sanders, and Roy & Barbara Strassberg.

Works by Dina Wilde-Ramsing

Costal Area Potter Painters Include: Helene Icard, Dina Wilde-Ramsing, Keith Lambert, Tonda Jeffcoat, and Seo Eo.

Mountains Area Potter Painters Include: Kim Ellington, Tammy Leigh Brooks, Michelle Flowers, John Britt, Michael Kline, Terry Gess, Matt Jones, Doc Welty, Alex Matisse, Becca Floyd, Cynthia Bringle, Karen Mickler, and Kyle Carpenter.

Triangle Area Potter Painters Include: Lynn Morrow, Mark Hewitt, Daphne Cruze-Zug, Ronan Peterson, Mary Paul & John Garland, and Nancy & Dan Lovejoy.

The North Carolina Pottery Center offers educational opportunities to statewide schools and individuals, changing historical and contemporary exhibitions, demonstrations, and information about statewide potters. The NCPC is a private nonprofit entity, funded primarily through memberships, grants, admissions, and appropriations.

Work by Meredith Heywood

The Center is open, Tuesdays – Saturdays, 10am to 4pm. Admission (excluding free special events): $2 – adults, $1 – students 9th through 12th grades, Free – children through 8th grade, free – NCPC members.  Handicap accessible. Groups and tours welcomed.

For further information and details call 336/873-8430, e-mail at (info@ncpotterycenter.org) or visit (www.NCPotteryCenter.org).

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Here’s the info:

The 5th Annual Spruce Pine Potters Market will be held on Oct. 9 & 10, 2010, from 10am-5pm, in the Cross Street Building, 31 Cross Street in Spruce Pine, NC.

Cynthia Bringle                            Mike Henshaw

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 9th and 10th 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 personal”.

This invitational show features over 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.

Courtney Martin                           Jenny Lou Sherburne

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.

Each year the Spruce Pine Potters Market invites one artist to participate who has not been in the show before, perhaps someone newer to the area or to clay.  This artist receives the honorary title of “Emerging Artist” and this year that person is Lisa Gluckin. She creates beautifully layered, handbuilt pieces using earthernware clay and colored terra sigilatta for her palette.

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, Cynthia Bringle, Melisa Cadell, Naomi Dalglish, Claudia Dunaway, Jon Ellenbogen, Susan Feagin, Lisa Gluckin, Becky Gray, Mike Henshaw, Michael Hunt, Shawn Ireland, Lisa Joerling-Burns, Nick Joerling, Michael Kline, Ty & Julie Larson, Suze Lindsay, Courtney Martin, Kent McLaughlin, Shane Mickey, Jane Peiser, Mark Peters, Becky Plummer, David Ross, Ken Sedberry, Jenny Lou Sherburne, Gay Smith, Tom Spleth, Liz Summerfield, Joy Tanner, and Jerilyn Virden.

There may be a few others, but getting list right is always a challenge.

For more information and travel directions to the show visit (www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com) or call 828/688-3386 with any questions.

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Here’s what we learned:

FRANK, the lively new Franklin Street Arts Collective in Chapel Hill, NC, will spotlight more than 30 of the state’s accomplished ceramic artists in the 2010 North Carolina Clay Invitational. The exhibit will open Friday, Sept. 10, 2010, at 7pm and run through Oct. 24, 2010.

Work by Bruce Gholson.

Work by Ken Sedberry.

North Carolina is known internationally for its large and vibrant community of contemporary potters and artists working in clay, as well for a rich ceramics heritage dating back to the early settlement of the state. This exhibit will present not only the work of FRANK members and consignment artists, but also that of leading ceramic artists from across the state.

The Invitational will feature every type of work, from functional pottery to sculpture. Among the celebrated artists are Cynthia Bringle, Holly Fischer, Steven Forbe de Soule, Mark Hewitt, Nick Joerling, Leah Leitson, Suze Lindsay, and Mary-Ann Prack. Admission is free, and many of the featured artists will attend the public opening to answer questions and discuss their work.

Work by Mark Hewitt.

Work by Nick Joerling.

FRANK’S popular TGI Thursday Salons, held every Thursday from 5pm to 8pm, will feature talks by noted clay artists and throwing demonstrations by FRANK member Susan Filley. At the salons, musical performances will include the 1930′s band, Skeedaddle.

The TGI Thursdays schedule for this exhibition includes:

Sept. 2, 2010, at 6pm – Brand Fortner, Professor at UNC will talk about the physics of color and discuss the breakdown of histograms.

Sept. 9, 2010, at 6pm – Daniel Johnston, will talk about making large pots – traditional techniques from NC &Thailand.

Sept. 16, 2010, at 6pm – a representative from STARworks Ceramics, located in Star, NC, will give a talk about, Where and what is clay? The process of making the material.

Sept. 23, 2010, at 7pm – Mark Hewitt, a renowned studio potter, will offer a talk on his favorite NC pots.

Sept. 30, 2010, at 6pm – Terry Zug, author of The North Carolina Pottery Tradition will give a talk.

FRANK will also collaborate with Kidzu, offering a special event for Kidzu kids to see the clay exhibit, watch a throwing demonstration, and then return to Kidzu to make their own project in clay.

Work by Samantha Henneke.

FRANK, featuring works from more than 80 artists, is the newest gallery for the visual arts in the Triangle. The 3400-square-foot gallery occupies the former Kerr Drug retail store on historic Franklin Street. The gallery offers ceramics, paintings, photography and sculpture as well as a wide selection of fine art, crafts, wearables, and gifts. FRANK hosts changing exhibitions, educational programs and community networking opportunities.

FRANK is located at 109 East Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Hours are Tues. – Sat., 11am – 6pm; Thurs. till 8pm and Sun., 1-5pm.

For further information call Barbara Rich, Gallery Director, at 919/636-4135 or visit (http://frankisart.com/).

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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.

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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.

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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.

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