February 2011

Pottery 101 in Salisbury, NC, Features Works by Verna Witt

Pottery 101 in Salisbury, NC, will present the exhibit, All Dressed Up, featuring pottery by Verna Witt, on view from Feb. 10 through Mar. 9, 2012. A reception will be held on Feb. 10, from 6-9pm.

Witt has studied art and wood sculpture with Toshio Odate at the Brooklyn Museum and figurative sculpture with Chaim Gross at Educational Alliance in NYC. She also studied basket making at Peter’s Valley Craft Community in New Jersey. She received a degree in Textile Design from the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked with several companies specializing in home fashion fabric.

Witt is now retired and is an active potter. She is currently a member of ClayMatters Pottery Guild in Charlotte, NC, and also acts as a docent at the Mint Museum in Uptown as well as the Mint Museum on Randolph. She has attended workshops with many accomplished potters such as Mark Hewitt, Suze Lindsay, Nicholas Joerling, Joyce Michaud, Daniel Johnson, Sandi Pierentozzi, and Neil Patterson.

Influences from Witt’s career as a textile designer can be seen in her current work. Whether she is incorporating materials such as beads and pine needles or “dressing up” a vase with buttons and zippers, she creates pieces that use both form and texture to challenge the senses.

Witt offered the following artist statement: “Pottery began as a means to create functional vessels for everyday use. I now enjoy stretching the limits of the clay to reach beyond the functional to create works that challenge the senses in both form and texture.”

“My current work draws from my career as a textile designer. What started as a simple button at the collar of a vase has evolved into endless possibilities of ‘dressing up’ or ‘fastening down’ clay.”

“Exploring the possibilities of incorporating other natural materials as reeds, pine needles, sea shells, and beads into my work allows me to experiment,” adds Witt. “However, the whole of the piece must be more than the sum of it’s parts. Harmony and beauty are more important than conventional prettiness.”

Located in the heart of Historic Salisbury, NC, Pottery 101 offers an extensive and diverse selection of pottery from across the Carolinas. A potter herself, gallery owner Cheryl Goins represents artists whose works are recognized regionally and nationally. In addition to a large inventory of original pottery, the gallery also has a selection of jewelry, woodwork, stained glass and wall art.

For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 704/209-1632 or visit (www.pottery-101.com).

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