This weekend you can go see the changing colors of the leaves in Western North Carolina and do some early holiday shopping at the 5th Annual Spruce Pine Potters Market. The show features a super lineup of potters from that area and you’ll be knocked out by the work offered, but be warned – get there early and shop till you drop.
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.
