Carolina Arts Unleashed

As I said in a previous posting, I was hoping that my delivery schedule would put me in the right place at the right time to become a second timer by attending the 2nd Annual, expanded, “Cousins In Clay” event that was taking place on June 5 & 6, 2010, at two locations – Bulldog Pottery and Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery in Seagrove, NC. Here’s a link to the official website.

Works by Bruce Gholson & Samantha Henneke

This event featured works by Bruce Gholson & Samantha Henneke (Bulldog Pottery), Fred Johnston & Carol Gentithes (Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery) and special guests Michael Kline, Val Cushing and Allison McGowan. The “cousins” is a kinship based on shared appreciation for the pursuit of excellence within the diverse language of clay. Many also share a connection with Alfred University in New York.

As it turns out, I made my final deliveries early Friday morning in Seagrove – on the run. Those who saw me or my car – saw only a blurrrrr. I had some things to do in Greensboro, NC, and the list got longer and longer and the plan was to get back to Seagrove Saturday morning. But, as usual, the best laid plans never turn out the way you think they will. In my final decision of the day it was a choice of attending Greensboro’s First Friday art walk and the NC Arts Council’s Fellowship exhibit at the Green Hill Center for NC Art and choice #2.

It’s too complicated to go into why I ended up selecting choice #2, but the folks in the Greensboro visual art community will figure it out – eventually, but I decided to go with my friend Will Ravenel to out first Grasshopper game (baseball) of the season. And, it was a great game. The Grasshopers won, but I later learned they beat the only other team in their division – below them in the standings. I felt a little guilty about not choosing art, but after a week of driving over 2,000 miles in rain and storms around the Carolinas – from the mountains to the sea – I think I made the right choice for me and by Saturday morning I was back working the visual arts.

I got to Seagrove a little later than I had hoped, but my first stop was at Whynot Pottery to touch base with Meredith Heywood about the upcoming exhibit, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, which will be at the Campbell House Gallery in Southern Pines, NC, Oct. 1 – 31, 2010. Carolina Arts is, hopefully for them, just one of the media sponsors for the exhibit. The exhibit will feature works by 50 potters from around the world, who also represent 45 blogs (several blogs are written by couples).

While I was there I got to be witness to a motorcycle traveler who was doing a trek from Why, AZ, to Whynot, NC. There’s always something interesting going on in Seagrove. The traveler’s first comment upon finishing his trek was – “It’s hot out there!”

Soon I was cruising down the driveway of Bulldog Pottery and when I arrived there were a lot of cars scattered around the front of the gallery area. A good sign.

A view of works by Val Cushing

I gravitated right off to the eight tables filled with pottery by Val Cushing, Michael Kline and Bruce Gholson & Samantha Henneke. What a sight – rows and rows of incredible pottery. I had already gone through the DTs at Whynot Pottery just standing next to work fresh out of the kiln. I hate this recession/depression! I knew there were to be no purchases this trip, but my mind was running the numbers and they were not adding up in my favor. Darn. So, I settled into plan B – enjoying good conversation – something that comes easy to me – at least the conversation part.

As usual, Bulldog Pottery attracted a lot of interesting people to have conversations with. I talked with the potters, visitors and even got to talk shop with a fellow publisher, Rhonda McCanless, who has started the newsletter, In the Grove, covering events in the Seagrove area. Yes, Rhonda is related to Will McCanless another of the Seagrove Potters.

Although she is just starting, and I’ve been doing this for 23 years – we still had a lot in common and were dealing with the same problems – trying to make a profit, getting people to inform you of activities in a timely fashion so you can inform the public, and  what it’s like to be a publisher – as well as an over-glorified paperboy, but in her case papergal. So here we were, both gathering info that would soon be offered to the public.

And to illustrate the info problem, we had both just learned that there was a third event taking place in Seagrove at this time at Chris Luther Pottery – as well as at Donna Craven Pottery near Asheboro. It’s hard to keep up with everything.

The best image – a view of pots and customers

There were people there from New York, Virgina, and Columbia, SC. An hour before I had determined when I had to leave ( I have a four hour drive home) I learned that a SC potter, Peter Lenzo was on the way, but several hours away – so we would be passing each other on the road. They asked if I knew him and I was proud to say yes and tell them we have several of Lenzo’s head jugs in our collection. I wish I could have stayed to chat with him there. But, there is always something else to do – somewhere else to be, plus I was getting tired of watching other people buy pottery.

I don’t know how the rest of Saturday went and I haven’t heard anything about Sunday, but I would say the 2nd annual Cousins in Clay event was a hit. I did not get to spend any time at Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery on Saturday, but on Friday morning I did have a good conversation with Fred Johnston when I was delivering papers. I’m sure you’ll be able to read some details at the Around and About with Bulldog Pottery blog by the time I post this.

I hope next year is a better year for us and I’m not just a looker at this event.

And, Finally I’m sorry about the lack of photos of the artists – I tend to talk to people instead of taking their pictures.