The Potter's Eye: Art & Tradition in North Carolina Pottery

Available in the Museum Store

The Potter’s Eye: Art & Tradition in North Carolina Pottery
Mark Hewitt & Nancy Sweezy
Hardcover, 296 pages

$42.95

Classic North Carolina stoneware pots--with their rich textures, monochromatic glazes, and minimal decoration--belong to one of America's most revered stoneware pottery traditions. In a lavishly illustrated celebration of that tradition, Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy trace the history of North Carolina pottery from the nineteenth century to the present day. They demonstrate the intriguing historic and aesthetic relationships that link pots produced in North Carolina to pottery traditions in Europe and Asia, in New England, and in the neighboring state of South Carolina.

With hundreds of color photographs highlighting the shapes and surfaces of carefully selected pots, The Potter's Eye honors the keen focus vernacular potters bring to their materials, tools, techniques, and history. It is an evocative guide for anyone interested in the art of North Carolina pottery and the aesthetic majesty of this resilient and long-standing tradition.


“I have great respect for Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy.  I deeply appreciate what they are doing, and that their writing is based on wide personal experience, profound insight, and wisdom.”
–Gerry Williams, Studio Potter Organization




About the Current Exhibitions:

Mark Hewitt: Big-Hearted Pots

A ceramic artist who knows no boundaries, Mark Hewitt has for more than 25 years been producing ceramic pots of gargantuan beauty and size. Born in England to a family with a history in the ceramic industry, Hewitt was drawn to a more naturalistic approach in his art, embracing clean lines and austere decoration, as well as the craft traditions of North Carolina, where he lives and works. About his pots, Hewitt says, " they break new ground while tipping their caps to the great jugs and jars from the potent pottery tradition of the South; and, while delightfully big-assed, they are also profoundly big-hearted." Closes April 10, 2011

Richard Ritter: A Life In Glass

In his 40 years as a craft artist, North Carolina-based Richard Ritter has steadily evolved his complex approach to glass vessels. Most widely lauded for his use of the murrini process, Ritter brings a contemporary sensibility to the ancient technique, created in Egypt and perfected in Italy, of creating glass rods with consistent cross-sections. The current exhibition is a career overview, tracing his trajectory from his early career in the midst of the American studio glass movement, through his career at Penland School of Crafts, to his most recent body of work, the Floral Core Series. Closes in mid-April 2011.

Hear North Carolina-based artists Mark Hewitt (potter) and Richard Ritter (glass) with collector Andrew Hayes  discuss craft in the 21st Century, below. 

CRAFT IN THE 21ST CENTURY with

MARK HEWITT, RICHARD RITTER and ANDREW HAYES

Moderator: Andrew Glasgow,

former executive director of the American Craft Council

and board member of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art

Wednesday, January 12

6PM

TOPICS COVERED:

Why craft is important and distinct in this century

Collecting craft--a lifelong passion

The importance of North Carolina craft to the historical, as well as contemporary, craft world

Question & Answer session

Current Exhibitions

Mark Hewitt: Big-Hearted Pots

A ceramic artist who knows no boundaries, Mark Hewitt has for more than 25 years been producing ceramic pots of gargantuan beauty and size. Born in England to a family with a history in the ceramic industry, Hewitt was drawn to a more naturalistic approach in his art, embracing clean lines and austere decoration, as well as the craft traditions of North Carolina, where he lives and works.  About his pots, Hewitt says, " they break new ground while tipping their caps to the great jugs and jars from the potent pottery tradition of the South; and, while delightfully big-assed, they are also profoundly big-hearted." 

Closes April 10, 2011

Check out Hewitt's website here. 

Richard Ritter: A Life In Glass

In his 40 years as a craft artist, North Carolina-based Richard Ritter has steadily evolved his complex approach to glass vessels. Most widely lauded for his use of the murrini process, Ritter brings a contemporary sensibility to the ancient technique, created in Egypt and perfected in Italy, of creating glass rods with consistent cross-sections. The current exhibition is a career overview, tracing his trajectory from his early career in the midst of the American studio glass movement, through his career at Penland School of Crafts, to his most recent body of work, the Floral Core Series. 

Closes mid-April 2011

Check out Ritter's website here.