The pottery I create reflects the traditional pottery styles of the southeast, all beginning with my interest in the Catawba Valley pottery tradition of North Carolina. This pottery began in the early 19th Century by German settlers in the foothills around Lincoln and Catawba Counties. A once thriving area of potters in the early 1900s, all but one potter, Burlon Craig, could be found using the traditional methods by the 1960s. Fortunately, a folk-art revival and national recognition of the pottery Burlon was continuing to make sparked a resurgence in the Catawba Valley tradition by the late 1970s and early 1980s. I was encouraged to seek out Burlon Craig by my college pottery teacher, Joan Byrd, and had the opportunity to meet with him twice before his death in 2002.
Along with a small, but growing number of potters who have been influenced by Burlon and the Catawba Valley tradition, I manipulate local clay bodies, wood-fire in a groundhog kiln, and predominantly use a homemade alkaline glaze. I typically make traditional, functional forms such as jugs, jars, pitchers, mugs, and vases, including various face jugs/forms.
After moving to the Spartanburg area several years ago, I’ve started to learn more of both the traditional and contemporary potters of South Carolina and the North Georgia region, including the late Billy Henson of Lyman, SC. These works continue to influence my own work and I’m excited to see what comes next. I intend to stay rooted in the deep traditions that have influenced me thus far, but look forward to where my new experiences lead me to branch out.
As Burlon Craig once said, “My idea is to make a pot with proportions–a width and a height–that look good together. There’s no set rules in that, you know”.
