December 2013

In The Grove
by Rhonda McCanless

Seagrove, NC, potters will celebrate the holidays with open houses and kiln openings. The Seagrove Christmas Open House is Dec. 7 & 8, 2013, from 9am to 5pm. Many Seagrove pottery shops will participate with special Christmas-themed items, decorated shops, refreshments and more. Visit the Museum of NC Pottery for refreshments and list of participating shops. For more information, call 336/873-7887.

Thomas Pottery will hold a Christmas Open House on Dec. 7, 2013, from 10am to 5pm. The open house will feature pieces from their Winter Scene Collection. Each piece is hand-painted and glazed individually, resulting in variations in the depth and character. Enjoy holiday decorations and tours of the studio while enjoying refreshments. Thomas Pottery is located at 1295 South NC Highway 705 in Seagrove. For more information, visit (www.ThomasPottery.com).

Cady Clay Works Christmas Open House is Dec. 7, 2013, from 9am to 5pm. The shop will be filled with new handmade pottery created by potters John Mellage and Beth Gore, as well as other holiday offerings. Come sample the naturally flavored cheeses that are the specialty of the Cady Cheese Factory in Cady, WI, located just down the road from the farm Beth’s great-grandparents homesteaded. Cady Clay Works is located at 3883 Busbee Road in Seagrove. For more information, call 910/464-5661 or visit (www.CadyClayWorks.com).

Westmoore Pottery’s Holiday Open House is Dec. 7, 2013, from 9am to 5pm. The shop will be decorated for the holidays, refreshments will be served and a kiln filled with special items will be unloaded. Special guest Kay Moss will be signing her newest book, Seeking the Historical Cook: Exploring Eighteenth-Century Southern Foodways from 1 to 3pm. The cookbook is a guide to historical cooking methods from 18th and 19th century recipe books and an examination of how those methods can be used in kitchens today. Westmoore Pottery is located at 4622 Busbee Road in Seagrove. For more information, call 910/464-3700 or visit (www.WestmoorePottery.com).

Eck McCanless Pottery will hold a Holiday Open House Dec. 7, 2013, from 10am to 5pm. The event will feature special holiday items, gift ideas and stocking stuffers. Eck will demonstrate how he makes his Agateware pottery from noon until 5pm. Eck McCanless Pottery is located at 6077 Old US Highway 220 in Seagrove. For more information, visit (www.EckMcCanless.webs.com) or call 336/873-7412.

Bulldog Pottery’s Holiday Sale will be Dec. 14, 2013, from 10am to 5pm. Meet and talk with potters Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke while checking out their newest pots and enjoying light refreshments and snacks. Bruce and Samantha specialize in studio art pottery with unique glazes and graceful forms. Bulldog Pottery is located five miles south of the traffic light in Seagrove at 3306 US Highway 220 Alternate. For more information, call 336/302-3469 or 910/428-9238, or visit (www.BulldogPottery.com).

Michèle Hastings & Jeff Brown Pottery’s Holiday Open House is also on Dec. 14, 2013. The log cabin gallery will be decorated for the holidays and filled with unique handmade pottery. The shop is located at 1423 NC Highway 705 in Seagrove. For more information, visit (www.GypsyPotters.net) or call 336/873-1001.

Donna Craven Pottery will hold its Holiday Kiln Opening on Dec. 13 & 14, 2013. Featuring wood-fired salt-glazed, mostly traditional with some decorative and contemporary forms by Donna Craven. A Candlelight Sale will be held from 5:30-8:30pm and then the Saturday Sale will be on Dec. 14, from 9am-5pm. Donna Craven Pottery is located at 2616 Old Cox Road, near Asheboro, NC. For more information call 336/629-8173 or e-mail to (donnacraven@embarqmail.com).

Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery will hold its Holiday Kiln Opening on Dec. 14, 2013, from 10am to 5pm. Fred Johnston and Carol Gentithes will have bodacious, new work on hand for holiday shopping. Their pottery is located at 249 East Main Street in Seagrove. For more information visit (www.johnstonandgentithes.com) or call 336/873-9176.

The North Carolina Pottery Center’s exhibition, Old Ways in Mind: Historical Pottery and Contemporary NC Potters, will run from Dec. 7 to Mar. 10, 2014, with an opening reception on Dec. 7, from noon until 2pm. The reception is free and open to the public. Curated by Brenda Hornsby Heindl, Old Ways in Mind will highlight North Carolina potters influenced by historical American pottery and the legacies of iconic potters and their families. The exhibition will explore historic American pottery traditions and kiln designs, as well as the impact of those designs on the appearance of historical and contemporary pottery. The pottery center is open Tue. through Sat., from 10am to 4pm, and is located at 233 East Avenue in Seagrove. For more information, call 336/873-8430 or visit (www.NCPotteryCenter.org).

Rhonda McCanless is editor and publisher of In the Grove, a monthly newsletter about Seagrove, NC, that focuses on pottery news. Click the link to see the latest issue. Rhonda works full-time for Central Park NC in Star, NC, and can sometimes be found at her husband’s pottery shop, Eck McCanless Pottery, located at 6077 Old U.S. Highway 220 in Seagrove, NC. She can be reached by calling 336/879-6950 336/879-6950 or e-mail to (professional_page@rtmc.net).

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