Thank you to all of the pottery lovers out there who came and supported us!  Join us next year, October 13 and 14, 2012.

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The big weekend is just about here…have you made your plans yet?

This weekend is the Spruce Pine Potter’s Market, and here is one of our sculptors to tempt you towards the mountains this weekend.

Becky Gray’s works are hand built; she uses thrown forms, extrusions, coils and slabs combined in different ways to create pieces that are sculptural and often ceremonial in nature. Her works are raku-fired with light reduction, generally sprayed with water and then put into hardwood sawdust to cool. The result is an aged, often stone-like or metallic appearance.

This image is one from her “Guardian Series”.  You can see her work in person this weekend, and find out more about her here and here.

With only 11 days left until this year’s Spruce Pine Potter’s Market, you would expect all potters in the area to be busy making and firing and sanding and pricing. Shawn Ireland has been as busy as any of them this year. In addition to the Potter’s Market he’s getting ready for the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show , and he has a solo exhibition at Crimson Laurel Gallery in Bakersville through the end of October.

Be sure to look for him in Spruce Pine this year, October 8th and 9th, 2011.

Make your plans for the weekend of October 8th and 9th, 2011.

These days most potters are busy working away in the studio, and most are rarely seen in public  places unless there is a potluck meal happening…some of the 30 potters of the Spruce Pine Potters Market have been seen  firing and  unloading their wares all ready.

Of course, we have a few sculptors too.  Pam Brewer returns to the Market this year, bringing her handbuilt ceramic work inspired by the natural world and the human experience.  Pam uses earthenware clay and time honored traditions to achieve a soft patina on the surface of her sculptures.

Read more at her website, or come by and visit at the Spruce Pine Potter’s Market.

The hottest heat of summer seems to be behind us, and the feeling of fall is starting to drift into the evenings here in the mountains.  That means the Spruce Pine Potters Market must be right around the corner!

Just in case you hadn’t heard, here is the press release for this year’s event.   Bring a friend, we’ll see you there…

5^th Annual Spruce Pine Potters Market

Spruce Pine, North Carolina – October 8 & 9, 2011 – Invitational show featuring thirty of the region’s best potters and clay artists holds annual sale in the historic Cross Street Building downtown.

This year’s artists include Claudia Dunaway, Daniel Johnston, Shaunna Lyons, William Baker, and Gay Smith, among many others. Based in Mitchell and Yancey Counties, these artists organize themselves for the annual event, which boasts several thousand visitors a year.

“Spruce Pine Potters Market gives the visitor the opportunity to get up close and personal with clay artists ranging from their twenties to their eighties,” says Jon Ellenbogen of Barking Spider Pottery, whose work will also be featured in the show. “It’s a community, family operation. Through their work, these artists bring the privacy of their studios to a group setting and invite the world in for a visit.”

Switzerland Café will provide muffins, coffee, and lunch options. Admission is free, with artists selling their work from 10am-5pm Saturday and Sunday. Tourists and county residents alike will enjoy this opportunity to experience the diversity of the region’s talent and personalities. Work includes functional pottery, porcelain, figurative sculpture, stoneware, earthenware, and more. SPPM is an affiliate organization of Toe River Arts Council.

For directions and a full list of artists, visit: www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com or call 828-765-0520.

Stan Andersen, William Baker, Bandana Pottery, Barking Spider Pottery, Pam Brewer, Cynthia Bringle, Claudia Dunaway, Ross Edwards, Susan Feagin, Fork Mountain Pottery, Lisa Gluckin, Becky Gray, Shawn Ireland, Nick and Lisa Joerling, Daniel Johnston, Michael Kline, Shaunna Lyons, Courtney Martin, Linda McFarling, Shane Mickey, Jane Peiser, Sedberry Pottery, Michael Rutkowsky, JennyLou Sherburne, Ron Slagle, Gay Smith, Liz Summerfield, Joy Tanner, and Tzadi Turrou

Don’t Miss it!

The Spruce Pine Potter’s Market is happening this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday, 10-5.

See you there.

]]> http://www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com/2010/10/dont-miss-it-potters-market-this-weekend/feed/ 0 http://www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com/2010/10/william-baker-featured-artist/ http://www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com/2010/10/william-baker-featured-artist/#comments Fri, 08 Oct 2010 18:04:27 +0000 admin http://www.sprucepinepottersmarket.com/?p=578

As the big weekend approaches, here is one more featured artist for you…William Baker answered a few of the questions we sent around.

[How long have you  lived here? What brought you here? Where did you grow up?]

I first moved to Asheville, NC in 2002 from Washington state.  I moved to accept a position as Resident Artist at the Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts, which was my first real immersion into the clay world.  I was fortunate and somewhat surprised to realize I had accidentally landed right in the heart of such an amazing region for craft.  When my time at the Odysssey Center was over in 2005 I moved further up into the mountains, following the smell of wood fired kilns.  After moving my studio several times since then, I am now working at the EnergyXchange and firing the wood/soda kiln there.

[What type of work do you make?  Have you always made this type of work? What is your favorite part of the process? Why?  What are three words that describe your work?]

I make mostly functional pottery, and I work almost exclusively on the wheel.  It was the process of throwing on the wheel that got me hooked on clay, although I also soon developed a serious kiln firing habit.  For me the firing process is at least as important as the forming process, and just as much fun too.  I have worked with salt and soda and atmospheric kilns since I was first introduced to them.  I was exploring different alternative firing methods early on, but I really loved the opportunity to combine atmospheric firing with functional work, and especially to be an integral part of the firing.  After several years of working with gas fired salt and soda kilns, I built my first wood fired soda kiln in 2007.

[Why do you make the work you do? Who do you make it for?
If you think a pot of you’ve made is awful, and someone whose opinion you respect believes it to be wonderful, how do you resolve the difference?]

I try to make the work that pleases me first, although there is always the tricky balance that any artist or craftsman must negotiate.  I have come to realize that I am the toughest critic I know, especially when looking at my own work.  If someone else likes a piece of mine that I hate, I would try to see what they appreciated in it and learn from that but I would not be statisfied until I could look at the piece and feel it was successful to my eye.

[Can you think of a particular personality trait you have that helps or helped you in becoming a potter/artist?]

I think being stubborn and persistent are helpful, not to mention a willingness to work very hard and not be easily satisfied.

[Do you play a musical instrument or sport?]

Growing up I played baseball for 12 years or so, and messed around with a few musical instruments too.  I  never really made a connection there until a conversation among crafts people revealed that almost everyone around the talble had played either an instrument or a sport.  It made me realize the importance of developing skills and appreciating one’s dedication to mastering a craft.