Carolina Arts Unleashed

Well, I hope no regular reader of Carolina Arts Unleashed needs to be reminded that the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, is keeping the doors open by fundraising events as funding from local, regional, state or national government sources is not cutting it. Without these fundraisers and the support of those people who participate in these fundraisers - those doors would be closed.

So, it’s important to support these events - if you’re a pottery lover, history lover, art lover, or just a person who appreciates the fact that thousands of years ago some creative folks discovered a way to turn - what most thought was just dirt - into vessels which: kept people from having to walk to the stream, river or lake every time they were thirsty, made it possible to store fluids and foods for a period of time, and made it possible to eat food on a surface which kept the junk of the world out of our food.

It’s called pottery. Some of you still use some of these products - everything isn’t made of plastic - yet. And, I for one, hope that day never comes.

So, my pitch is for as many of you that can - go to this event, spend lots of money and if you can’t go - bid by phone. If you can’t afford to do either, see if you can become a member. And, if you’re one of those folks with the bothersome problem of having so much money you just can’t think of enough ways to reduce your tax burden - write the NC Pottery Center a big check and if that doesn’t help your situation out enough - write one to Carolina Arts too. We’re here to help you good folks.

One final note - you can preview the auction offerings on Friday, Apr. 23, 2010, from 10am -5pm and Sunday, Apr. 25, 2010, before the auction starts.

Here’s their pitch:

The North Carolina Pottery Center, partnering with Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales, Ltd (LLAES), is pleased to announce, the 11th annual, Going, Going, Gone to Pots!, fundraising auction on April 25, 2010. In addition to an outstanding selection of contemporary and vintage pottery, the auction will offer pottery related items, such as books, posters and photographs. These items will be available for viewing on three web sites; (www.auctionzip.com), (www.ncpotterycenter.com) and (www.llauctions.com), which will offer national exposure of the items, artists and the North Carolina Pottery Center. The new expanded preview period, which opens later this month, also provides an option facilitated by LLAES, Ltd., for absentee and advance telephone bidding for persons unable to attend the live auction.

The North Carolina Pottery Center’s Board of Directors and the auction/fundraising committee, encourages and appreciates the public support that enables us to maintain our mission of promoting public awareness and appreciation of the history, heritage, and ongoing tradition of pottery making in North Carolina. We cordially invite you to participate in this vital and necessary fund-raising event. Your support allows us to ensure the continued success and viability of the North Carolina Pottery Center.

Along with our partner, Leland Little Auction & Estate Sales, the following sponsors have generously committed their support to the North Carolina Pottery Center’s auction: Total Communication, Community One Bank, the Pinehurst/Southern Pines/Aberdeen Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, The Umstead Hotel, Energizer, Pugh Funeral Home, Insurance Associates of the Triad, Cabot Cheese, the Duck Smith House B&B, The North Carolina Zoological Society, Total Wine, Westmoore Family Restaurant, with others joining daily.

The Auction is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, April 25, 2010. The auction begins at 5pm, but the doors of the NC Pottery Center will open at 3:30pm with a preview, appetizers and local, traditional bluegrass music. There is no admission and everyone is welcome!

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, fundraisers, admissions, and appropriations.

The NC Pottery 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, and free - NCPC members. The Center is handicap accessible. Groups and tours welcomed.

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

Home

So last Thursday, Feb. 4, 2010, at 10pm, I’m getting in the car loaded up with my last run of papers headed to Rock Hill, SC, Charlotte, NC, Davidson, NC, Asheboro, NC, and eventually Seagrove, NC - all the time knowing I’m racing the clock against another winter storm of sleet and snow. The Weather Channel said that it will be raining in Charlotte until 3am and then changing to sleet as the temps drop down to 32 degrees and below. At that point I’d only be halfway done with the delivery.

We always like to have the paper completely delivered by the first Friday of the month so that all the communities that host art walks will have fresh copies of Carolina Arts. The last three months have been challenging to get that job done. You might say weather challenged.

When I got in the car at 10pm in Bonneau, SC - headquarters of Shoestring Publishing Company - the temp was 45 degrees. It was hard to believe it was going to be below 32 in Charlotte, but as I headed to Columbia, SC, on I-26 and then toward Rock Hill, on I-77 - the further I traveled north the temps just kept dropping one and two degrees at a time. By the time I reached the outskirts of Charlotte it was 34 degrees and it was going to take 3 hours to finish and then I’d be heading more north - eventually east, but the real kicker was I’d have to cross over Hwy. 64 from I-85 in Lexington, NC, to Asheboro. Halfway along Hwy. 64 there are some pretty big hills to cross over and in the past I’ve noticed that the temps really drop in that area. That was my big concern and I was right.

The temps stayed 34 degrees through Charlotte, Davidson, NC, and on I-85 headed towards Lexington - occasionally dropping to 33 degrees at times. At one point on I-85 I saw lots of flashing blue and red lights up ahead and the first thing I thought of was “black ice”. The traffic slowed and sure enough in a stretch of a mile several cars had gone off the road and all sorts of emergency vehicles were giving assistance, but the temp was 34 as I passed by. The temps must have dropped for a while in that stretch of the highway. I must have missed that by 30 minutes or an hour.

I finally make it on to Hwy. 64 and the temp is 33 degrees and it starts to sleet - oh boy. By the time I’m at the top of those hills the sleet is starting to collect on the road by an inch or two and I still expected the temps to drop. What’s a newspaper delivery boy to do?

Well, I did grow up in Michigan and I did my fair share of driving in snow, sleet and ice. I pulled off the road and waited for the next semi to come by and I pulled in behind it. That truck plowed the way over the top of the hills for me and on the other side of the hills it was 34 degrees and just raining. I pulled into Asheboro around 6:30am Friday morning, knowing that the sun would be coming up in 30 minutes - hoping the temps would never go below 34 and in fact be rising, as from then on I would be traveling south all the way to South Carolina where you can pretty much count on a 10 degree difference - warmer.

I really dodged a bullet. In Asheboro, I went to drop off papers at the W.H. Moring Jr. Arts Center on Sunset Avenue and it was sleeting there - back on Hwy. 64 in Asheboro at the McDonalds where I usually have breakfast it was just rain. That’s how close I was to real trouble. Cars were pulling into the McDonalds coming from the North with several inches of snow or sleet on them. Next stop, the NC Pottery Center in Seagrove - heading south.

While eating my breakfast a USPS mailman came in for breakfast too and I had to think - whether rain, sleet, snow, scorching heat, tropical storms - Carolina Arts must be delivered. And, I’m the sucker stuck with that job. Don’t get me wrong, I love my monthly adventures, it’s just that sometimes they’re too much of an adventure and I’m not as young as I was when I first started. So I headed to Seagrove, NC - the Center of Pottery in North Carolina - a new moniker I’m using for Seagrove. You see, Seagrove is also near the geographical center of North Carolina.

After dropping off papers at the NC Pottery Center in Seagrove I’m officially finished - except for the four hour drive back to Bonneau. It’s always a relief and although it was raining cats and dogs and still a nasty 34 degrees I was up for some extra credit - so I drove to one of the newly opened NC Visitor Centers to check it out. I also needed a port in a storm - if you get my meaning.

The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has opened two new Visitor Centers, located within 5 miles of the geographic center of North Carolina along both sides of the US 220 corridor (the future I-73, I-74) in Randolph County just south of Seagrove.

In North Carolina the visitor centers open at 8am, an hour before they do in South Carolina so I didn’t have to wait at all to see what they had to offer. I was curious as this center is different from other NC Visitor Centers as it was being run by a commercial business.

I had a good look around, talked with the two women working there - they were friendly and informative and on the ball enough to realize after a bit of conversation that I seemed to know more about the area than the average person passing by. I identified myself and told them of my concerns that as a commercial operation that they may operate like a chamber of commerce - only providing info about paid members - not telling the whole story of the area to folks who didn’t know to ask about certain things. I was contacted myself about paying a fee to leave copies of Carolina Arts at the centers, but had to pass as we can’t afford to pay anyone to leave papers for distribution. Why else would I be delivering the papers myself? Ask any newspaper publisher you know if they deliver their paper.

I understand that the State of North Carolina, like every other state in America, is hurting for funding and realize that if it wasn’t for these centers being planned years ago and in the process of being built - might not have been built, but I hope when the economy turns and NC recovers they won’t let private business take over the lead point in telling the state’s tourism story - under a “pay you play” system. At least I hope the taxpayers of North Carolina won’t let that be the case. It’s too important a job to be put in the hands of bottom line business minds - who will soon wonder if they can get away with coin operated toilet paper dispensers.

I don’t know how much if any the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources is involved with NCDOT visitor centers, but I hope they have some say about the materials offered in those centers. I hope they can convince the state legislators that they don’t want that info to be limited to only those who can pay for it. North Carolina has too much to offer to work on that system. I hope they don’t go over to the dark side.

While visiting the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources’ website to get their link I noticed a publication they have available called, Homegrown Handmade, Art Roads & Farm Trails of North Carolina. It looks like it could be a valuable book for discovering arts and good food in NC. And, I’m giving them the plug - at no charge. That’s a hint, NC.

Well I had a nice visit at the Visitor Center, but wished it wasn’t raining so hard - I would have liked to check out the scenic lookout area of the center. I had been getting soaked all night and I didn’t see that getting soaked again would do me any good. I was finally dry after my stay in the VC.

Once back in the car I noticed it was 9:15am. I’m usually heading out of Seagrove by 7:30am - well before any of the potteries are open, but I wondered - Bulldog Pottery is just off the next exit - maybe they’re already knocking around the studio. I called and asked when they opened - the person who answered said 10am. I asked if it was Bruce Gholson and said who I was and it was Ed Henneke - Samantha Henneke’s father and he said come on over. So I headed that way. I’ve talked with Ed several times.

A work by Bruce Gholson

In less than 10 minutes I was there and got to see Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke’s new working studio, have a nice cup of hot tea and honey, and some good conversation about the new visitor centers and happenings in Seagrove. They were leasing space with several other potteries at the visitor centers. I noticed a piece of their pottery there but never imagined they had to pay to have it there. Such is the world under the current economy.

By the time I was leaving, their first customer of the day was arriving and I headed off to McCanless Pottery on my way to Whynot Pottery hoping their road was being unfrozen by all this rain. At McCanless I got a tour of his operation, which was impressive. Will Ravenel (my friend in Greensboro, NC, and sometime Seagrove visiting companion) and I had talked with Will McCanless at the last Celebration of Seagrove Potters about the crystalline glaze he does on some of his pottery - it’s a very interesting process and looks great on his pottery. You can see some images of the crystalline glaze effects on his website (www.mccanlesspottery.com).

A work by Will McCanless

Will McCanless is an intense kind of guy and after talking with him that day I wished he was also a blogging potter, but I think his plate is full - no pun intended. He told me he’s about to open a new pottery shop in downtown Seagrove offering works by a variety of Seagrove potters. This should be a wonderful new addition to the Seagrove pottery scene.

Saying downtown Seagrove may seem a stretch to some, but compared to the town I live near - it’s a downtown or if you like - village center.

OK - on to Whynot Pottery to visit Meredith and Mark Heywood. When I got to the driveway, sure enough the rain had done its job - the road was clear of ice and snow, but their was a closed sign up on their main sign. Darn! I figured they might be taking the day off to do something else - what better day to take off, but I’m the curious type so I called and got Mark on the phone and he said come on in. They had placed the closed sign up there so people wouldn’t try and drive down the frozen driveway and end up taking a swim in their pond.

I was greeted with the excuse that I had just missed a pie or something of the sort. I asked if there was any of that pineapple upside down cake I’ve read about on her blog and was told I’d have to give notice for that - so I settled for good conversation instead. You see, sometimes the unplanned adventures just don’t pay off the same as planned visits. Frankly, I don’t need any pie or cake - I wouldn’t turn most offers down - that’s obvious, but good conversation - I’ll drive 12 hours in rain or sleet for that.

Works from Whynot Pottery

We talked about the new visitor centers, they too were leasing space there and the exhibit Meredith is organizing entitled, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, which will be presented at the Campbell House Galleries of the Arts Council of Moore County in Southern Pines, NC, from Oct. 1 - 29, 2010.

Meredith and Mark set up shop in Seagrove when there were only 12 potteries operating, so they are a great resource on the history of the area and its development to being one of the largest concentrations of potteries in the country. At one point mostly traditional pottery, but now offering some of the finest contemporary pottery being made in the Carolinas - as you’ll be able to see if you visit the NC Pottery Center’s new exhibit, New Generation of Seagrove Potters, featuring works by fifteen Seagrove area potters all under age 40, from Feb. 12 through Apr. 10, 2010.

But, before long it was getting late - it was still raining cats and dogs and I still had a four hour drive ahead of me and I was beginning to feel the week of driving weighing heavily on me. So, I headed to Seagrove and back on to Hwy. 220 pointed toward South Carolina. But, before I left the area I stopped once more at the new southbound Visitor Center - I mean that’s what they’re for, right? - they want you to visit don’t they?

Four and a half hours later I was pulling into Bonneau just before dark - the rain had finally stopped as I left I-95 in Manning, SC.

If you’ve been keeping track, this 20 hour day was spent on four interstate highways (I-26, I-77, I-85, and I-95) and one future interstate highway - I-73, I-74. I think in my next life I’ll apply to be a truck driver. I hope they make more money.

Home

There is some big news for folks traveling on US 220 (the future I-73/74) in North Carolina. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has opened two new Visitor Centers, located within 5 miles of the geographic center of North Carolina along both sides of the US 220 corridor in Randolph County just south of Seagrove and just minutes from the North Carolina Zoo, near Asheboro, NC.

It’s great news for my bladder and I’m sure many others too. Thank you Hardee’s in Seagrove and the old rest stop in Ellerbe, NC, on US 220 Business - you’ve both been good friends in the past but I’ll now give my business to the NCDOT - with some exceptions. I won’t be paying to place copies of Carolina Arts in either of those centers. We don’t and have never paid for placement of our paper and surely couldn’t now - no matter how good a distribution point some places might be. We still feel the various visual art locations we report on - art galleries, art spaces, art museums and even potteries are the best places for people to discover our paper and look for it every month. If people like the info we offer, we want them to return to the places they found it to begin with or places like it.

It is my hope that both of these new Visitor Centers will be great ambassadors for Seagrove area potteries, as well as other area attractions.

The North Carolina Pottery Center (NCPC) in Seagrove, NC, will present the exhibit, New Generation of Seagrove Potters, featuring works by fifteen Seagrove area potters all under age 40, from Feb. 12 through Apr. 10, 2010.

Blaine Avery

The Seagrove area has a long and rich history of pottery and this exhibit highlights some of the younger potters who have made a career working in clay. The participating potters include Blaine Avery, Chad Brown, Jeff Dean, Samantha Henneke, Daniel Johnston, Crystal King, Matthew Luck, Stephanie Martin, Eck McCanless, Will McCanless, Tommy Nichols, Travis Owens, Hitomi Shibata, Takuro Shibata, and Jared Zehmer.

Samantha Henneke

Travis Owens

The NCPC will host a Demonstration Day on Mar. 20, 2010, from 10am-3pm. Plan to visit the NCPC to see featured potters, Samantha Henneke, Crystal King, Travis Owens, Tommy Nichols, and Chad Brown demonstrating at the wheel in NCPC’s education building.

Also, Meredith Heywood - that’s Heywood with an “e” (my mistake several times) of Whynot Pottery in Seagrove, NC, and a fellow blogger is in the process of organizing an exhibit, to be entitled, Clay and Blogs: Telling a Story, which will be presented at the Campbell House Galleries of the Arts Council of Moore County in Southern Pines, NC, from Oct. 1 - 29, 2010.

I think she has nearly 50 potters and bloggers from as far away as Alaska in the US of A, and from Canada, UK, Australia and possibility New Zealand as well. It should be a very interesting exhibition.

Since starting Carolina Arts Unleashed, over a year and a half ago, I have been amazed at the impact of blogs in spreading news about events, information about techniques, marketing practices, travel tips, images of artworks, calls for help - you name it. I look forward to seeing this exhibit of clay works from around the world, plus seeing the impact blogs have had on the potters and their creative process.

Carolina Arts, Carolina Arts Online, and Carolina Arts Unleashed have become a media sponsor of this exhibit and we’ll keep you updated on developments as we get closer to the date of the exhibit’s beginning.

Of course there will be Spring kiln openings in Seagrove and there’s an expanded “Cousins In Clay” event planned for this year, including Bulldog Pottery, Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery and their special guest potters, but I don’t want to spill all the beans at once. So stay tuned for news from Seagrove.

Home

We have received some photos of some of the older pots on view in the exhibit, Fire in the Valley: Catawba Valley Pottery Then and Now, which is on view at the NC Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC, through Jan. 30, 2010. I originally made the entry on Dec. 2, 2009, you can go back by scrolling down the page, but you can also get there by clicking this link. These images will give readers a better picture of the entire exhibit, but it’s still better if you go see it yourself.

Thanks to the NC Pottery Center for sending us these images.

Home

Bloggers Note: We have received some images of the older pots in this exhibit, sent to us by the NC Pottery Center (Thanks!). We hope you enjoy them - they make this entry a whole lot better.

On my way to the Celebration of Seagrove Potters Gale Preview in Seagrove, NC, which was held on Nov. 20, 2009, I stopped in at the NC Pottery Center to see the exhibition, Fire in the Valley: Catawba Valley Pottery Then and Now, which will be on view through Jan. 30, 2010.

I can’t imagine a trip to Seagrove or even a trip near Seagrove without a stop at the NC Pottery Center - unless I have already seen the exhibit they are presenting and even then, I can still think of a reason to stop by - just to make sure it is still there.

In 2008, many people came together to help keep the doors of the NC Pottery Center open in the face of financial doom, and fundraisers have keep the doors open during 2009. It will take continual efforts by supporters to keep those doors open into the future. You can make donations on the Center’s website, take out a membership there, and even order one of the many fine books about NC pottery from their Museum Shop. The battle to save the NC Pottery Center is not over - keep the money coming.

But above all - go there and see what a wonderful resource center it is in presenting the story of North Carolina’s pottery heritage - which continues today.

This is not an exhibit review. I’m a long way from being able to review any pottery exhibitions. I’m not sure I’ll ever get there, but I’m learning more and more about pottery all the time. This entry is meant to get you to go see this exhibit and for many of you - to go visit the NC Pottery Center.

I’ll start with an excerpt from an article presented in Carolina Arts in our Dec. 09 issue about this exhibit: For most North Carolinians, the Seagrove, NC, area is the Mecca of pottery production, the place that most embodies historical continuity and native artistry. But just 100 miles due west of Seagrove is the Catawba Valley, the site of North Carolina’s other great pottery tradition. During the 18th century, numerous families, most of German origin, settled what are now Lincoln and Catawba Counties in the western Piedmont. The Catawba River encircles this region, and its South Fork, which meanders through the heart of both counties, has provided superb clays for the potters’ wheels. (See a complete article about this exhibit at Carolina Arts.)

Daniel Seagle c. 1830

Works by Michael Ball

What we have here is an exhibition of the old - some pieces dating back to the 1830’s and the new - works being made by contemporary potters in the Catawba Valley today. In an informal setting, you might not be able to identify the old from the new - except for subtle hints - the traditions of this area are strong even in today’s potters. You could probably place pots made in three different centuries next to each other and the average viewer couldn’t tell the difference - not to say that each individual potter didn’t have their own style. And, there are examples which show that these potters could step away from tradition at times - to express themselves in different ways. (The older pots were under plexiglass, making it hard to photograph.)

Isaac Lefevers c 1850

David Hartzog c 1850

Many might think viewing parts of this exhibit that these are just a bunch of - plain old pots - like the kind I was used to seeing on my grandparents farm back in Michigan - some collecting rain water for watering plants or filled with umbrellas or walking canes near a door. Pots that are no longer used for their original functions, but nonetheless have lasted longer than modern containers. These pots were mostly made for function too.

Works by Kim Ellington

The central figure in making this exhibit possible in showing the Then and Now of Catawba Valley pottery is Burlon Craig, who was born in 1914 and lived to the age of 88, before he died in 2002.

In the 1980’s, Burlong Craig was almost the last of the Catawba Valley potters, but he taught or more exact - let others observe him and the techniques involved in producing the areas style of pottery - leading to a whole new generation of Catawba Valley potters including: Michael Ball, Kim Ellington, Walter Fleming, Luke Heafner, Jeff Young, and Bob Hilton. All have works in this exhibit.

“Clown Face” by Jeff Young

The contemporary works presented in this exhibit by this next generation of potters might not seem so contemporary compared to pottery made today - especially seen by me that evening at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters Gala Preview. But in comparison to the works shown in the historical part of this exhibit - there are many signs of how these potters have expressed themselves differently, yet some pieces are the same shapes, but with a little fancier pattern of glazes. The Catawba Valley traditions are still held strong. There are even a few examples where Burlong Craig worked outside the box of tradition.

Although my tastes in pottery lean toward color and texture - I could see the merits to having some simpler - more traditional pieces. The more you looked at some of these works the more elegant they looked.

“Handled Rundlet” by Michael Ball

Of course like any exhibition on any subject - the limitations of space and the public’s attention span limits telling the whole story. Getting a fuller, richer, picture of the Catawba Valley pottery of North Carolina is up to you. You need to visit the potteries operating there, attend a local festival, read books that have been written about the area and its potters, and visit websites offering other information.

John Goodman c. mid 19th century

One such website is Catawba Valley Pottery of North Carolina. This website was created to serve as an informational and educational tool concerning Catawba Valley Folk-Art Potters and their wares. You can read a history of Catawba Valley Pottery at this link.

The 13th annual Catawba Valley Pottery and Antiques Festival will be held on Saturday, March 27, 2010, at the Hickory Metro Convention Center, I-40, Exit 125 in Hickory, NC, from 9am until 5pm. The Festival is a fundraising event for two non-profit institutions, the Catawba County Historical Association and the North Carolina Pottery Center.

And, info about the Burlon Craig Pottery Festival can be found at this link.

If any of this interest you I hope you’ll make the effort to go see this exhibit and check out the NC Pottery Center as well as potteries in Seagrove. But, I hope you’ll also think about making a trip to the Catawba Valley too. We want you to enjoy the pottery of both Carolinas - all of it.

In closing, I’d like to voice my opinion, once more, that we in South Carolina would be so lucky to have such a facility as the NC Pottery Center in SC - not just to show off our state’s pottery heritage, but to show off any areas of the visual arts. I hope that one day soon the citizens of NC and its leaders in the NC Legislature realize what they have and take measures to preserve it well into the future. The story of NC’s pottery legacy is still in the growing process - there will be a lot more to tell in the future.

And, there are a lot of people all over the world who are interested in that story. I know by the amount of folks who have been following my blog entries about Seagrove, NC pottery and its potters.

Fire in the Valley: Catawba Valley Pottery Then and Now will be on view through Jan. 30, 2010.

Home

This shouldn’t be too long (right), but I just wanted to make some observations/suggestions about the pottery festivals, Seagrove, the potters there and the NC Pottery Center.

I’ll begin with the NC Pottery Center. I know it would probably be hard to find more volunteers to do this, but I think the Center should stay open extra hours, from 4-6pm - until the Friday night Gala Preview opens for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters. Most people in Seagrove who support the Center are probably involved with the festival and the Gala, but there were a lot of folks who were driving by the Pottery Center after 4pm - looking for something to do.

There may have been a lot of folks who arrived in Seagrove early for the Gala - folks who may have only planned to go to the Gala, and although there were plenty of potteries open to visit - they may have hoped to see the exhibit at the NC Pottery Center - Fire in the Valley: Catawba Valley Pottery Then and Now, which will be on view through Jan. 30, 2010..

I also think they should try to be open Sunday while both festivals are still going on. It’s the one weekend in Seagrove when the most people interested in pottery are in town and I would think it would be good for the Pottery Center to be open.

But I understand that this small town of 250 might already be stretched to capacity as to how much more it can do. So, this might be a good opportunity for those supporters of the NC Pottery Center who live outside of the Seagrove area to step up and answer the call of duty on this weekend so the Pottery Center can still man a booth at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters.

I hope you’ll understand why the Pottery Center is not involved with the Seagrove Pottery Festival since its organizers, the Bobbsey Twins of the pottery world, have tried their best or worst to close it down.

Another observation is that I think the idea, supplied by Michael Mahan of From the Ground Up pottery of offering collaborative works for the Gala Preview auction - is one of the greatest ideas I know of in fundraising. It brings the potters together - as if they could get any closer, creates a unique opportunity for pottery collectors (some of the potters even made bids on these works) and gives the Celebration a good promotional tool which can draw even more people to the Gala Preview.

On the question of should there be more collaborative works offered or less - I don’t know. Perhaps the number should be tied to how many advance tickets are sold to the Gala Preview. If next year’s ticket sales are increased by a few hundred more folks like this year - there may be a need for more collaborative items to be offered at the auction. But the balance is delicate as the main goal of the festival is for the potteries to sell pottery. Still, I would guess some people were drawn especially to the Gala Preview for the collaborative works.

My message to those Seagrove potters participating in the Seagrove Pottery Festival (the other pottery festival taking place in Seagrove that weekend), which I have nothing against is - look for new leadership before you become just another arts and craft festival. The Celebration of Seagrove Potters has the right idea in how to keep the heritage and traditions of the true Seagrove area alive. Your festival is drifting in the wrong direction - with the wrong captain at the wheel.

I’m not saying there is no room for two festivals - in fact, I think two festivals is drawing more people to Seagrove. Some people are probably drawn to Seagrove with the notion that they might see some sign of a feud - a feud that doesn’t really exist between the potters. There are always a few publicity hounds in every community and once they have tasted the spotlight, they’ll do anything, say anything, to keep those lights shining on them. It’s not about you, the potters - it’s always going to be about them - your fearless leaders. They are steering the ship and they don’t care where it goes - even a crash on the rocks is good attention for them. You need to start thinking for yourself - what’s good for you and what’s good for your community - not one 50 miles away.

And, finally, I hope the State of North Carolina gets that rest area and welcome center near Seagrove opened on Hwy. 220 (the future I-74) soon. And, I hope it represents the Seagrove area in a true light. There is a big difference between trying to get people to take the next exit and explore and getting them to make a 50 mile detour to Sanford, NC, to see what some people call Seagrove pottery. It’s best to keep politics out of North Carolina’s heritage and cultural offerings. No amount of legislation is going to make Sanford Seagrove or allow Sanford to replace Seagrove. Let Sanford be Sanford and Seagrove be Seagrove.

And, Hwy. 220 (the future I-74) also needs better signage informing folks traveling that road that there are not just area potteries at various exits around Seagrove - it should say that there are over 100 individual potteries in a very small area to explore. A few more words on a sign is not that much more to ask. If it was South Carolina - there would be 30 - 40 massive billboards in a 10 mile stretch. No one wants that, but a few more words on the official highway signs for Seagrove potteries would be better - much better.

PS - Did I win any of the raffles?

Home

Well, Saturday morning started with breakfast and a scan of the Greensboro newspaper, the News & Record to see if there was anything there about the Celebration of Seagrove Potters. There was an article there about the two pottery festivals going on in Seagrove, NC (from the High Point Enterprise). Things must be getting pretty bad at the News & Record - out of the four pages I pulled out of the paper which had the article about the festivals, most of the articles on the pages were from the High Point Enterprise, The Associated Press, Wire Reports, and the Charlotte Observer. I guess the N&R handled the obituaries. They’re looking like a cut and paste newspaper. Maybe the N&R owns the Enterprise - lets hope so. Oh well, times are tough for newspapers - Carolina Arts included.

This article was a little one-sided, leaning toward the Seagrove Pottery Festival - with some info being supplied by the lesser of the two Bobbsey Twins of the pottery world. Having just stepped in a cow pie over numbers of potteries/potters participating at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters, I thought it was funny that this Bobbsey was using the figure - “80 of the area’s potters” were at his festival. I guess that’s a pretty liberal use of the word “area”. At least he didn’t use the word Seagrove, even though he and his boss got the NC Legislature to declare several neighboring counties to officially be considered to be in the Seagrove area too. Saying it don’t make it so, but it gives them the excuse to call just about anyone they want a Seagrove potter. At least the article mentioned both pottery festivals. But, what’s the deal with featuring a Civil War re-enactment at the Seagrove Pottery Festival. I guess it fits since pretty soon, Big Boss Bobbsey Twin will want potters from Seagrove to secede from Seagrove and declare Sanford, NC, to be the real Seagrove of NC. Wait for it.

So we headed for Seagrove. It was a much shorter drive from Greensboro for me - how about that? I guess they’re right - location is everything. In my arrival Friday I only saw signs for the Celebration, but on Saturday there were a few signs for the other festival, but when it came for the turnoff from Hwy. 705 in Seagrove for the Seagrove Pottery Festival there were a couple of guys with a big sign saying “Pottery Festival” waving people to turn, but most people like us just drove right on by towards Luck’s Cannery. That was the only sign of any pottery wars going on in Seagrove.

I had forgotten that the festival on Saturday started at 9am - so we were late for the start and lots of people were piling into the parking lots and many already leaving. I guess it pays to look at your ticket stub. We ended way back around the buildings from the night before, but in a better space - closer to the entrance. Outside food vendors were well at work in getting lunch ready and the smells were great. Getting in the front door took a little longer and when we finally got in - the place was really packed.

We sort of got to wave at some folks to let them know we were back, but the crowd didn’t exactly let us talk to people again. Plus today, my friend and official photographer of the day, Will Ravenel, was shopping. Moving around took some skill.

While trying to get to Bulldog Pottery we noticed that there was hardly anything left at Jugtown Pottery. I asked Pam Owens, one of the Owens clan from Jugtown what they were going to do for Sunday or the rest of Saturday for that matter - she shrugged her shoulders and said - maybe we won’t have to come back tomorrow? I thought that strange, but later learned that Jugtown doesn’t usually do pottery festivals, but was doing the Celebration to be supportive, and I had forgotten for the moment that all these booths - also have folks manning their regular potteries in Seagrove - where there is much more inventory.

That was another thing different about Saturday. The Friday Gala Preview had all the folks from the potteries on hand, but come Saturday some had to stay at home to manage the potteries and on the drive in there were lots of people at the potteries too.

At one point we came across a booth that was unmarked by a sign as to which pottery it was - again it helps if you pick up a program or remember to bring the one to got from the night before. People were really crowding in around this booth. We finally got close enough to see some of the pottery and we both liked what we saw. We eventually learned that this was Ray Pottery. There was a line of people with pots and objects in their hands waiting to give these folks money. Later after a few more turns around the room - there was still a line of people waiting to buy. A nice problem to have.

During a pass by Whynot Pottery, still unable to get close, I picked up a flyer for the Catawba Valley Pottery & Antiques Festival, which will take place on March, 27, 2010, at the Hickory Metro Convention Center in Hickory, NC. They have a Friday Night Preview Party too, scheduled for March 26, 2010 - also advance tickets only.  The Festival is a fundraising event for two non-profit institutions, the Catawba County Historical Association and the North Carolina Pottery Center. More about this event in another blog entry, but you can check the link now, but come right back - I’m not finished.

Will was making purchases and some of my weekend anxiety was relieved by carrying one of his packages around. But then I started to worry about the folks I had said I couldn’t buy during this trip - seeing me with a big bag and thinking - those newspaper types - they’ll say anything. So the anxiety came right back. But at least give me credit for recruiting Will to the event, which lead to purchases of Seagrove pottery. And, besides the crowd was too heavy and the booths were so busy, I doubt anyone noticed me, much less anything else a few feet away from their nose.

Takuro Shibata of STARworks Ceramics explaining clay making process.

Finally we found a booth that wasn’t too crowded. It was the STARworks Ceramics booth. They make clay down in Star, NC, a little south of Seagrove on Hwy 220 (the future I-74). We talked with Takuro Shibata, the director of STARworks Ceramics. We had looked up their site Friday night when we got back to Greensboro after talking with Nancy Gottovi, the executive director of STARworks NC. We also watched a video that was playing on an Apple computer in their booth (a good sign for both Will and I - diehard Apple folks) about their clay making process. Santiago Ramirez, the operations manager at STARworks Ceramics also gave us a lesson about clay that was very interesting. We were learning a lot about clay, glazes, pottery processes, and the pottery biz - which is another side of the festival which I think most of the crowd was missing, but I’m glad for the potter’s sake that most people there were interested in buying Seagrove pottery.

I did finally meet one of my first contacts with the Seagrove area, Jennie Lorette Keatts of JLK Jewelry and Shop at Jugtown Pottery. She has helped supply me with info about Seagrove and the potters there - as far as five years back, but more recently helping supply photos for the blog and coordinating Carolina Arts‘ media sponsorship of the Celebration. That’s the way it is in this biz - I deal with folks on a monthly basis - some who I have never met face to face in all these years.

I think the last potter I got a chance to talk with was Michael Mahan of From the Ground Up pottery. That’s where I learned from his wife, Mary Holmes, that it was his idea about the collaborative pottery pieces for the auction on Friday. It takes a wife sometimes to give credit where credit is due.

We ate a lunch of stir-fry from a new restaurant which had moved from the west coast to Asheboro, NC - Pacific Rim Noodle House. That was some good eating and outside was wonderful. The selection of food was very good - it seems they had everything covered. It’s hard to believe this festival is only in its second year.

Back in the building the crowd in the back room with the booths seemed to have gotten larger and tick tock it was 1 o’clock already, a time I had set when I had to leave to return to Bonneau, SC, headquarters of Carolina Arts.

On the way out I got to see Sid Luck of Luck’s Ware doing a pottery demo for a few minutes - he makes it look so easy. I really didn’t want to leave - there was still so much to see and another auction scheduled for 4pm on Saturday, but I had to go. All good things must come to an end.

Sid Luck doing his magic.

Before I left the building, on the way to the restroom - I’m no dummy, I noticed that there was one copy of Carolina Arts left on the check-in desk. I asked the woman standing there if that’s all they had - she said I could take it, and I said I have plenty. She looked back at me with a funny look and I replied - it’s my paper and that I have more in the car. So I went and restocked their pile. A lot of folks were probably seeing their first copy of the paper. No surprise to me, but good for us.

Leaving the cannery there were still tons of folks coming in for the festival. When back in Seagrove I decided to drive by the other festival - there were a lot of people there too - so I would guess that both festivals did well and hopefully will learn that they both offer something that will draw people to Seagrove which is good for all. Let’s hope that sinks in to one group soon, but with the Bobbsey Twins of the pottery world leading them on (I mean literally leading them on) - don’t hold your breath.

Three and a half hours later I was back home in Bonneau. On the ride back home I was listening to a book on CD - Hard Row by Margaret Maron - another discovery from that area of North Carolina. Maron has provided me with background info on the pottery world in Seagrove, the furniture market in High Point and other characteristics of this area of NC. Her books are always a good listen. Perhaps her new book will be Showdown at the Seagrove Pottery Festivals - who knows.

Home

I’m going to let you know right off the bat - this could be a three-parter with all the info I have to offer about this event. It involves much more than the Celebration event in itself. So bear with me while I take you on my journey. I hope some of you will enjoy my tale of our shared experience and the rest of you will kick yourself for not taking my advice to attend this festival. Good thing for you - it will take place again next year - bigger and better than the last two I’m sure.

I left Bonneau, SC, and headed north toward Seagrove about noon Friday, Nov. 20, 2009. That’s a short jaunt from Bonneau to Manning, SC, where I picked up I-95 and then at Florence, SC, I got off on Hwy. 52 which took me to Cheraw, SC, where I picked up Hwy. 1 to Rockingham, NC, and then Hwy. 220 (the future I-74) all the way up to Exit 45 to Seagrove. In a little more than 3 1/2 hours I was in the parking lot of the NC Pottery Center. I can’t wait until that new rest area is opened just before Exit 45 so I don’t have to stop at the one in Ellerbe. Sorry Ellerbe, I know you’re getting the short end of the stick with the new I-74, but you’re going to have to come up with something better than a rest area to attract people there.

I just made it in time to see the exhibit, Fire in the Valley: Catawba Valley Pottery Then and Now, which will be on view through Jan. 30, 2010. There will be a separate posting on that exhibit. This is also where I was going to meet up with my friend Will Ravenel, who was coming from Greensboro, NC, to go with me to the Gala Preview event. Linda, my better half, had to work that weekend. Will had agreed to come as my official photographer, since I can’t talk to people and remember to take photos. Plus, he’s a better photographer than I am. Carolina Arts and I are very grateful for his expertise with cameras, computers, websites, blogging and just about anything else technical - and, he asks some pretty good questions as well. He has joined me on several trips to Seagrove and I think he really enjoys it as much as I do.

Will arrived about an hour before the Gala Preview opened so we headed to the Westmoore Family Restaurant - a great place to get some good food at a pretty good price. But, I’m sure a lot of folks traveling to Seagrove have already found that out. Remember, Seagrove is a town of about 250 people, so you wouldn’t expect a lot of places to dine. Asheboro, NC, is just 12 miles away, so you can find everything you might need for a trip to Seagrove there. We knew there was going to be food at the Gala, but we couldn’t think of anything else to do in the meantime. Everyone in Seagrove was getting ready for one pottery festival or another.

Once we finished our dinner we headed back up Hwy. 705, the Pottery Highway, toward Seagrove to the historic Luck’s Cannery where the Celebration of Seagrove Potters was taking place. The closer we got to the turnoff the more cars joined in the line headed to the same place. The Police Officers directing traffic in and out of the Cannery did a great job of moving traffic and the parking attendants found us a place to park very quickly. Both groups did a great job all weekend long moving the horde of people in and out. I’ve waited longer to cross the street in downtown Charleston, SC.

Now it might seem like a lot of stuff - before we step foot through the door to the event I’m blogging about, but it’s all part of the experience - something I think everyone should know. It would be like blogging about an art walk in downtown Charleston, SC, and not mentioning the fact that it may have taken 20-30 minutes to drive around before you found a parking spot and that you were three blocks away from where you would like to be - and that’s someone who knows the city well. It’s all part of the experience. I hate it when people act like they just magically appeared at some event - no hassle at all. What’s not worth doing even it involves a few hassles?

OK, so we’re in the door - we have our tickets (no tickets are sold at the door so you have to buy them in advance - remember that) and right off there are copies of Carolina Arts on the check-in desk. My night was made already. We were one of the media sponsors of this event, but that doesn’t always mean you’re going to be treated in a manner you always hope for - I left the event filled with the glow that our sponsorship was not only appreciated but celebrated. That’s never a bad thing. And, in almost 100 percent of those situations, we are happy to renew our sponsorship - year after year.

So, to answer the questions on everyone’s minds who read my two previous entries about this festival: there was no sign of the Bobbsey Twins of the pottery world or any hired goons making my visit an unpleasant experience. But I did turn my head every time I heard the word Tom shouted a little louder than normal - as if someone was giving me a warning. And, no pottery was sacrificed in any scrambles of people trying to get away from me.

We filled out our ticket stubs for the raffle items and then moved on past the line for food (which looked great), but we had just finished dinner, but we found a dessert table - with lots of desserts. We visited that table several times that evening. We then checked out the items to be auctioned that evening - the collaborative pieces - most done by two different Seagrove potters - a few face jugs done by three different potters and a few done by husband and wife potter teams. Just looking at some of the works and seeing the names associated with them - I knew the bidding would be way over a lot of peoples’ heads - especially mine, plus I was out of the pottery purchasing game altogether this trip. My little joke of the night was that - I’d love to buy something, but I have a struggling arts newspaper instead. Ha Ha. That was the only miserable part of this trip. It was killing me.

We headed into the part of the building where the pottery booths were. Apparently that was a new feature this year. Last year the festival was held in one big space and this year there was a divided wall up separating the entry room where the auction would take place and the entertainment, food, drink, and information tables were set up. This new wall was important in that the band playing in one room didn’t add to the noise of the crowd around the pottery booths so you could talk and the people wanting to hear the music didn’t have to deal with crowd noise. Plus while the auction was taking place people could and were still shopping.

We made a quick tour around the big room divided into three pathways - stopping to talk (when we could - the place was packed) with potters from places we visited during the spring kiln openings earlier this year and fellow bloggers I now think of as friends - Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke of Bulldog Pottery (Samantha’s father - Ed Henneke was there too) and Meredith and Mark Heywood of Whynot Pottery. Some folks we never did get to talk to that night even after several passes - they were tied up with customers. To me sales always come first - whether I’m on the phone with someone or in their gallery or studio - if customers come in - everything is on hold until business is concluded. Business is business.

Blogger’s Note: My apologies to Meredith and Mark Heywood - I keep trying to make them Haywoods.

So, in-between trying to say hi to some folks we roamed around to wherever our eyes took us. At one point we were at David Stuempfle’s booth of Stuempfle Pottery admiring his very big pots and we met Nancy Gottovi who turned out to be the executive director of STARworks NC, located just off Hwy. 220 (the future I-74) in Star, NC. She answered some questions we had about Stuempfle’s work and wood-fired salt glazes and then we talked about STARworks and Central Park NC - but for now you’ll have to check the links and wait for a separate entry on that facility.

At Whynot Pottery’s booth we got an explanation of crystalline glazes and how that works. We were really fascinated by that glaze technique. And I asked about something I thought of on the ride up to Seagrove. I wondered what kind of objects children made in art class in a community like Seagrove - home to over 100 potteries. I had bet myself that the pottery sessions were better than the ones I had in school back in Michigan. Some of the children’s parents would be some of the area’s potters. These are kids who have been hanging around potteries most of their lives - of course they made more interesting objects out of clay than the rest of us and with programs organized by the NC Pottery Center and taught by area potters - why wouldn’t they be better? Of course many turned out like my creations did - we can’t all be gifted artists.

Here I am (before Thanksgiving, if you can believe it,) talking with Meredith Heywood trying to remember what my first creations in clay looked like.

At the booth for Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery (Fred Johnston and Carol Gentithes) I picked up a flyer for the second Cousins In Clay event which will take place in Seagrove on June 5 & 6, 2010. This expanded version will include the Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery as well as Bulldog Pottery. Michael Kline will be returning to Bulldog Pottery with Val Cushing and Allison McGowen will be a guest at Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery. Put that on your calendars.

While we were looking around Will was beginning to think that Saturday - the first day of the Celebration of Seagrove Potters festival - he might have to do some early Christmas shopping. He was seeing lots of possibilities. Lucky stiff.

Just before 8pm we headed back into the first room to find a good spot to observe the auction. I thought - this is going to be interesting and I wasn’t let down.

As I said in one of my earlier entries about the festival - these items were one-of-a- kind works. You can’t get a piece where two different potters from different potteries worked on a special creation together - so there were some people there ready to spend some money to call those works theirs. And, some of the teams were made up of very high profile potters. The bottom line is that the Friday night auction took in $10,000 which would be used for programs in the Seagrove community and promotion of the event.

I can’t give you details of the entire auction - this would go on forever - just like some of the bidding did - back and forth between two competing bidders and just when you thought the bidding was over a third bidder would throw their hand up - starting the bidding back and forth again.

Here’s a few of the highlights. A vase by Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke (Bulldog Pottery) went for $600. A turtle created by Blaine Avery (Avery Pottery & Tileworks) and Carol Gentithes (Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery) went for $550. Two small vases created by Donna Craven (Donna Craven Pottery) and Samantha Henneke (Bulldog Pottery) demanded a high bid of $725. A very small melon vase by Ben Owen III (Ben Owen Pottery) and Will McCanless (McCanless Pottery) went for $400. But the big winner of the auction was a work by Ben Owen III (Ben Owen Pottery) and Fred Johnston (Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery) that took in $1650 before the bidding was over. All of these potters make pots that sell for more than these works took in, but it was really great of them to donate special works for this auction.

Here is Ben Owen III holding up a work at the auction he and Will McCanless created.

This event was very exciting to watch - some people got some real bargains and others paid perhaps beyond what I’m sure they wanted to, but they walked away with some items - all us spectators wished we were going home with. I know I was drooling over most of the works offered.

By the way, the idea of making collaborative works to auction off was the idea of Michael Mahan of From the Ground Up pottery. He wanted the Celebration to offer something special - something different from other pottery festivals. Perhaps this idea stemming from the positive energy he puts in his creations - soul pots, peace pots - with feelings of love and kindness. I’m not making fun - we all can use a lot more peace, love and kindness in today’s world.

I later learned on Saturday that the Gala Preview may have attracted a few hundred more people than the first year’s event and I’m sure more will be there next year as the word gets out. But for the record - final figures on attendance and money raised will come later - the figures offered here are just what I’ve heard so far, nothing concrete. I’m watching out for the cow pies. (A reference to earlier blog entries.)

Will and I had a good time - learned a lot about pottery and had some good conservations about all kinds of things. When we got back to Greensboro we watched a DVD of the new Star Trek movie - which was also very good - Saturday at the Celebration would be another day and another entry.

Bloggers Note: Of course the minute the Celebration of Seagrove Potters and the Seagrove Pottery Festival ended Sunday afternoon - these potters could take a long deserved rest - wrong! Many are scrambling to get ready for other shows, like the 40th Annual Carolina Designer Craftsmen’s Fine Craft + Design Show at the Exhibition Center at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 27 - 29, 2009, or kiln opening at their own potteries coming in December. This is a busy and critical time for these folks, so if you didn’t make it to either of these festivals - they sure would like you to come to Seagrove to do some holiday shopping. A handmade gift of pottery is better than anything you can find waiting in line in the dark early Friday morning after Thanksgiving.

Home

The .1 represents my Cow Pie entry, but this will be the last entry about the Celebration of Seagrove Potters 2009 festival - before it takes place. Of course we will have a follow-up as to how it went. And, like entry #2, instead of going over the details again I’m just going to offer this link to a previous entry I made giving a lot of details and a link to the Celebration of Seagrove Potters website where you can find out more than you ever wanted to about the festival.

What I have to offer this time is photos of works that will be offered by auction at the Friday night Gala Preview on Nov. 20, 2009, at the Historic Luck’s Cannery in Seagrove. I’m sure tickets are still available on the festival’s website (www.CelebrationOfSeagrovePotters.com). They are just $35 - but must be purchased in advance. So don’t dither as Dick Cheney says. But, then again - don’t take his advice - look what happened to others that did. Take my advice - get your ticket now, if you haven’t already.

Many of these works are a two for one - one pottery creation - created in collaboration by two matched Seagrove potters. You can’t buy pottery like that everyday. And, you can’t buy them if you don’t go to the Gala Preview. And, (there is always another “and” isn’t there?) you can’t buy these works unless you’re the highest bidder. So we’ll see who the real “top” pottery collectors are Friday night.

Now, Friday is not just for the high-rolling auction bidders, a ticket to the Gala Preview also gives you access to the potter’s booths - first chance to buy before the festival opens Saturday. And, like most galas - there will be beverages, food and live music and lots of rubbing of elbows with Seagrove potters, major pottery collectors and high muckety mucks of the pottery world. Don’t tell the Bobbsey Twins that I might be there - (You know who they are - one’s from Sanford, NC, and one’s from wherever the first one tells him he’s from - see Cow Pie entry for a clue.) There may even be a hord of media types searching for signs of a feud. But I don’t think they’ll find any - except in the minds of the Bobbsey Twins. All the excitement Friday evening will come from who wins high bids on the unique collaborative pieces. Besides, the Bobbsey Twins have their own pottery festival to organize.

Of course if you can’t come Friday night - Saturday or Sunday will do just fine. The kilns of Seagrove have been burning away - right up to the last minute to provide as many visitors with the opportunity to go home with a work made by a Seagrove potter. And, that’s what you get at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters - the opportunity and guarantee that what you buy will come from a Seagrove potter.

Enough said - go - buy - enjoy.

One last favor to ask. If you are there and you see me (that is for those few who know what I look like) - don’t go shouting out my name or say - there’s Tom Starland from Carolina Arts. I don’t want to be responsible for a lot of broken pots when people scatter to get out of the way or line of fire. Just give me a wink.

Home

Well, it didn’t take long after my recent posting about the upcoming Celebration of Seagrove Potters festival which will take place Nov. 20 - 22, 2009, in Seagrove, NC, when I started to get e-mails from a couple of my regular non-fans about the big mistake I had made - counting potters as potteries.

In my irrational exuberance (thank you Allen Greenspan) to be a good media sponsor for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters and in trying to be too cute in making a comparison between the two festivals offered in Seagrove on the same weekend, I made the mistake of using the word “potteries” where I should have used the word “potters”. It’s a big difference.

When I made the statement - “I know there are about 100 potteries in the greater Seagrove area and 85 of them will be at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters.” I was wrong. The number 85 represents individual potters not potteries. There will be almost 60 potteries represented at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters - leaving about 40 from the Seagrove area that could be at the other festival - still less than the Celebration and almost just as many (up to 35) from somewhere else other than Seagrove attending the other festival.

So it was pointed out to me that I was full of what you can find inside a cow pie and that I was, again, being unfair to the other festival.

Well, I pointed out to my non-fans that I did mention the other festival, made a link to their website and suggested to readers that if they didn’t find what they needed at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters - they should go to the other festival - it will be right there in Seagrove. That’s more fair and balanced than FOX News. It would be kind of hard to miss the other festival in such a small community, but, that’s what you get when trying to be a good supporter to one festival and fair to the other.

I have always said to these folks who are not happy with my support of the NC Pottery Center and Seagrove potters that what I’m trying to do is get people to go to Seagrove. What they do when they get there and which potteries they go to - much less what festivals they go to - I don’t really care. It’s a free country and I think visitors will just see potteries in Seagrove and won’t be checking any guides telling which potteries are on what side of the pottery feud going on in Seagrove. (And, for the record - there is no real feud going on in Seagrove.) So every time I’m promoting Seagrove potters - I’m doing work for all Seagrove potters - except for a few.

What really has had a burr up my rear is the real problem in Seagrove and that’s the actions of a few of the organizers of the other festival - the Seagrove Pottery Festival. Don Hudson, a potter from Sanford, NC, and his side kick, Phil Morgan, a potter from Seagrove have been running their own “Tea Party” in NC - attacking potteries and potters who do not line up under their leadership, attacking the NC Pottery Center and even attacking the NC Department of Cultural Resources - for their support of the Pottery Center and Seagrove in general.

I have nothing against the other potteries and potters who participate in the Seagrove Pottery Festival - they’re just trying to make a living like the rest of us, but I cannot support a festival under the control of Hudson and Morgan - a two man wrecking crew.

So I stepped in a cow pie by making my mistake, but my grandparents ran a dairy farm back in Michigan and I’ve stepped in many a cow pie and even learned that they can be useful as a sort of frisby - good for tossing at your older brother. So I’m tossing the cow pie I stepped in back at Don Hudson and Phil Morgan and asking - What’s the deal - have you two always been jerks?

I have an idea as to what Hudson is up to. He’d like to see the reputation of Seagrove pottery dragged through the mud in favor of Sanford, NC - which presents its own pottery festival. What Morgan is up to - I’m not sure he knows, but he must like being a yes man to Hudson.

I’m going to make the corrections to my recent posting - still showing my mistakes. I’m a big boy and I can live with my mistakes, but I’ll correct them when I’m shown I was wrong - but I don’t know how Hudson and Morgan live with what damage they have caused in the last two years.

If they are ever successful in bringing down the NC Pottery Center I will do my best to make sure the art community and community in general - forever knows what these two guys did. But, I don’t think they will be successful in their quest and until that day comes - if it ever does - I’ll not mention them again or anything they are associated with. It’s what they deserve.

So in closing - make sure you go to the Celebration of Seagrove Potters in Seagrove, NC, held from Nov. 20 - 22, 2009. You’ll see lots of potters from Seagrove there - 85 of them.

Home