Gobbling Up Pots

Chad Brown's booth, 5th generation North Carolinian potter

We entered the Hickory Convention Center with the idea that we would touch base with Mark Hewitt first, before the crowds descended. His work is well known beyond the region and we expected hordes of people to swarm. It was hard not to get involved with the pottery in the first booths close to the door, but we raised our eyes and kept walking until we found the Hewitt booth. He was personable, and the work beautiful.  As expected, we bought a pot. We’ll have more time to visit with him and see his studio in a couple days.

 

Our Mark Hewitt pot

Our Jim Whalen pot

Our adventure really began after leaving his booth. We literally spent over 4 hours looking, touching, talking, walking, and yes, buying.  The first two pieces we bought were art pots, defined by their elegance, grace, remarkable aesthetic qualities and sheer perfection of craft. The first was the Mark Hewitt piece, which could be envisioned with a couple lily stems, or filled with cider, or simply standing to be admired.  The second was a piece by Jim Whalen that simply took Sarah’s breath away with its references to Zuni shape and burnished surface. Jim is a seeker, following his own passions and artistic expressions through this most ancient and earthly practice. We hope to make it to his studio before leaving the Asheville area. His process is precise, with a daylong throwing in order to allow the clay to stiffen up and hold this uncanny shape. He slow-dries the piece, burnishing the surfaces and removing all marks of the hand, while preparing the surface for what will be the application of wax in patterns designed to thrill the eye and wake the heart. His final firing is a two-stage process of salt firing and sawdust firing, and still the pot is not done until it is scrubbed, soaked, and coated in tung oil. There is a month’s work in each pot.

Chad Brown's 1 gallon pitcher 

Then we began in earnest looking for functional ware for daily use, picking up mugs, bowls, and objects. We engaged in dialogues with some, and returned more than once to others. It is remarkable how a hand fits with a handle, or doesn’t, and how the attachment of a handle can change the balance in a mug.  The forms and glaze textures of Chad Brown caught us from the moment we walked by his booth, to which we returned, three times. There is a fundamental form in each of his pieces, and his glazes are unassuming, yet their unabashed salt glazed surfaces have that humble grace that saturates the old traditions. In speaking with him, we learned that he is a 5^th generation potter, no surprise there! He threw production ware for ten years before taking his forms out to meet his own need to make pots. He is the embodiment of how the influences of a Mark Hewitt meet the century old practices.

Andrea's booth

We were impressed by a young couple, caught by the colors and finesse, playful experimentation and expression of Andrea Denniston’s work, only to turn and see her partner’s work, astute and clear, functional and fun. We ended up with more of Seth Guzovsky’s pieces than Andrea’s and by the time we got home, wished we had brought several more of Andrea’s with us. We may have to do something about that. She has plans to do graduate work at Syracuse, so perhaps we’ll find her in New York.

With bags of mugs and soy sauce dishes, we continued to enjoy one after another of potters making contemporary face jugs, baked apple dishes, lamp bases, oil and vinegar cruets, and large planters. We admired faceted and crackled surfaces, enjoyed discussing the alligator dry crackled skins of Gene Arnold’s pieces, though we walked away with only two lovely balanced mugs from his Mud Duckpottery. We were choosing mugs for others, friends and our children, and hope that among the many they will find the one.

Three mugs - left & right by Seth Guzovsky,
center mug by Chad Brown

   

Our bowl by Andrea Denniston

In the next two days we expect to see many more possibilities, including a new red alert for oatmeal bowls.