Treasures

28th Annual
“Treasures of the Earth Pottery Show and Sale”

Exhibit & Sale Dates: February 9th - March 22nd
Opening: Feb. 9th, 5-7pm

Hours:
Monday - Friday, 9am-4pm
Saturday, 10am - 2pm

This promises to be the best exhibit yet with the works of
local and regional artists plus NEW potters! The works on
exhibit include sculpture and pottery in a wide variety of styles.
It is a must see show!

Pam Bailey
Pam Bailey grew up in Baltimore County, Maryland. She discovered an interest in drawing and creating in 4th grade when she was recruited to help with the class bulletin boards. While studying at Towson University in Towson, MD, she got married, finished her degree in Art Education and immediately began raising her three children. After her youngest child went off to college she decided to take a pottery class at a local art center, remembering how much she enjoyed ceramics in college. She attended classes and workshops as much as possible while working various full time jobs. She enjoys making functional ceramics while adding her love of drawing to each piece through carving and sgraffito, striving to create functional pieces of art.
Facebook: PamBaileyPottery

Ronnie Blackburn
Ronnie started taking pottery classes at Isothermal Community College in 2005 and has worked out of Allen Griffin’s studio in Shelby since 2009. Ronnie loves using different techniques to develop a piece of pottery. His specialties are coil and slab built pieces. The majority of his work is one of a kind pieces.

Renee Calder
My work is a reflection of the diversity of the world around us. I strive to bring personality into each piece- to engage the viewer with the unexpected. I focus mostly on the combination of materials, where the mundane becomes something more, engaging the viewer to take a second look and see things in a different way. I want to challenge our notions of the use of materials and prompt a new perception of ordinary things that surround us. Using metal, clay, wood, fabric and found objects, I act as a sort of a visual alchemist. There is a simple pleasure that we get from seeing and touching the objects we love. We are perspective creatures, and aesthetics can touch us in some powerful ways. So whether you respond to the form, color, craftsmanship, or the design, my goal is to make you smile. Facebook: ReneeCalder

Shari Crouse
Shari Crouse has been a ceramic artist for over 40 years. Her work utilizes a variety of techniques and textures to create both functional and sculptural pieces incorporating both wheel thrown and hand built methods. She works in stoneware using a variety of glaze and finishing techniques. Her pieces are influenced in their form and textures by elements found in nature and our world.
Facebook: ShariCrousePottery

Wendy Edwards
I graduated from Sacred Heart College in 1984 with a degree in Art with concentration in pottery. The fall after graduation I was offered the position of pottery instructor at Sacred. I taught for one year- until unfortunately the college closed their doors. Pottery for me stopped. Fast forward- marriage, 2 children etc later.....I found my way back to pottery. I enrolled in classes at Gaston College taught by a wonderful teacher Allen Griffin. My love for clay was rekindled! In 2007 I became studio assistant for 8 years at Rising Sun Pottery in Lincolnton, NC. Being in a studio environment on a daily basis was a tremendous experience and allowed time for my skills to improve. It is hard to describe the work I create today. Pieces I throw on the wheel, though functional shapes often just serve as canvases to carve or pieces to be manipulated into something else. My goal when working is to create a piece that evokes a response. First from me and then second from someone else. I guess that makes me a selfish potter...but I'm ok with that

Vickie Gill
Vicki Gill established Bluegill Pottery in 1997. Her forte is thrown and handbuilt stoneware clay. Firing takes place in oxidation and on occasion in an atmospheric kiln. The tactile impression is as important to her as the visual impression, so carving and texturing methods form a common thread throughout the body of work. A desire to use and master techniques such as carving and development of rich surface color and texture was influenced by Eastern pottery. Everyday use of handmade work was another important part of a tradition that appealed to her. Her studio has been located in Gastonia since 2004.
http://www.bluegillpottery.com
http://www.bluegillpottery.blogspot.com
Facebook: bluegillpottery

Corine Guseman
Corine’s impressions and carvings on her pottery are forged from memories of her youth, surrounded by the beauty of the Canyonlands, the desert rock formations and ancient Indian art in Utah. In the past year, she has been exploring color and contrast on white ware. Corine was an affiliate artist at the McColl Center for Visual Art in Charlotte, recipient of a Mecklenburg Arts and Science Council’s Regional Artist Grant, founding member of Buffalo Creek Gallery in Shelby, NC, and Visual Art and Education Coordinator at the Cleveland County Arts Council. She lives in Lawndale, NC.

Dorothy Houlditch
Dorothy has been making pottery since 2003, beginning at ICC and then at Kiowa Cilone's Good Earth Pottery Studio in Forest City, (now known as Studio 828) and in her workshop at Red Feather Farm at the edge of the South Mountains. She focuses on hand building with coils or rolled slabs. Large coiled pots with textured exteriors, often embellished with leaves and mountain laurel or grapevine handles, along with garden bells have become her signature work. Wall hangings or pots with faces that celebrate the female, whether a Celtic and Green Woman or a medusa are other favorites to create. The function of a piece is often not as important to this potter as the creative process that goes into making it!
Visit her Facebook page: RedFeatherPottery

Becca Irvin
Becca Irvin was born and raised in west Tennessee. Having always been interested in art, Becca chose to pursue a degree in art at East Tennessee State University. Her senior year she helped lead a team to build a soda fired kiln. She went on to receive a full scholarship to study ceramics in Tuscany, Italy at the Spannocchia Castello Institute in 2013. After graduating with a BFA in ceramics in 2014, Becca worked on an apprenticeship under the direction of Greg Pace, a renowned master potter. Together, they built a 65 cubic foot gas firing car kiln that is still used to fire their wares in. Under his direction, she learned to calculate glazes and master the crystalline glazing process. In the fall of 2019, Becca was accepted into a residency at the Sanbao Ceramic International Art Institute where she produced and exhibited wares in Jingdezhen, China and traveled abroad for six weeks. She has worked full time in the Mount Pisgah Pottery Studio right outside of Asheville, North Carolina since 2015 and now is busy setting up her own studio closer to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Coleen Kincaid
I started doing pottery about three years ago, following a devastating house fire. We were living in a tiny camper while we rebuilt and struggling with some PTSD symptoms. Somebody suggested I take a pottery class. I found the whole experience a relaxing/calming escape. I loved it! I decided to take an early retirement from nursing, bought a kiln and started selling the things I make. Life is good and I have never regretted my decision.
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Susan Jones
Susan is a Shelby, NC, native and got her first taste of making pottery as a student at Shelby High School while taking art from Ford McDonald. Years later, she attended the Contemporary Potters of Western North Carolina seminar at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) where she tried throwing for the first time. She studied pottery with Allen Griffin in Shelby from 2007 to 2016 and with Ron Philbeck at Cleveland Community College in early 2014. In 2016, after Allen Griffin’s death, she purchased A. Griffin Pottery on South Lafayette Street. Her work is available at Buffalo Creek Gallery and at A. Griffin Pottery. Follow her @agriffinpottery on Instagram and Facebook: AGriffinPottery

Puzzle Creek Pottery
John & Donna King
John & Donna live in Washburn Community of Rutherford County, where they operate Puzzle Creek Pottery. John began exploring ceramics under the instruction of Joan Byrd at Western Carolina University, where he graduated with a BFA in 1971. Donna originally trained as a painter, slowly moved to clay when John began teaching pottery at ICC. Together they produce one of a kind contemporary pottery for sale. Both are strongly inspired by the natural world and sculpture and surface carving dominate their work.
Their studio and gallery are open by appointment.

Doug Knotts
Doug has been making pottery since 1972. He was a sophomore in college and his major was English. “I decided to switch to an Art major after a couple of ceramic courses,” he said. After graduation, Knotts worked as a park potter in Alabama. It was production, but he was able to teach children that came through the park. He then worked at Toe Rivers Art Council in Mitchell County, NC and after that he joined the NC Visiting Artist Association. He was placed at a Community College and worked at different schools in that area teaching and producing. Eventually he became known for his bird pots. He got the idea of birds from his Grandfather. “He worked at a hospital and he would carve birds out of wood and give them to the sick children in the hospital. I make bird pots because of those experiences; also to continue to sell pots I needed something different.”

Barry Ledbetter
I was introduced to pottery in an art elective class at Western Carolina University. My interest in pottery was renewed over 30 years later when I enrolled at Isothermal Community College in 2006. Later I received instruction from Kiowa Cilone and John King’s Good Earth Pottery Studio in Forest City, NC. In 2013 my wife and I converted an old farmhouse into a working shop we call Ledbetter Pottery. I mostly throw and slab-build serviceable pottery, but occasionally try sculpture. We fire all of our pottery in an electric kiln.
Our shop is located 9 miles south of Shelby, NC Facebook: BarryLedbetter

Jodi Lynn McNeely
Jodi Lynn has always been driven by a desire to paint something, make something, or fix something. After taking numerous art classes at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, NC and participating in several ceramic workshops in the region, Jodi Lynn built a studio and gallery on her property in South Charlotte. Her Industrial Technology Bachelor Degree, ceramics education and free form carvings have emerged as her signature style, creating unique pieces with structural integrity and aesthetic interest. Influenced by Mexican and Chinese Folk Art. A form of journaling, her carvings many times feature people she has met on her journey. She is a Charlotte, NC transplant from Texas by way of New Mexico. Jodi Lynn’s pottery and ceramics capture the magic of story-telling and the human connection of friendship, family and community that develops as we journey through this thing called life. The vibrant, whimsical colors, and rich carvings of human connection are influenced by her own journey from the desert Southwest in the U.S. to mainland China where she adopted her daughters. It was there she first formed one of the greatest human connections of all - mother and child.

Sarah Monteleone
Sarah Monteleone has lived in Gaston County all her life and now resides in Dallas, NC. She attended UNCC and studied art. An avid horsewoman, she bred and showed Arabian horses for many years.
Pottery is now her passion, and she is a distinguished NC potter focusing on functional and creative pieces.

Richard Dana Paul
Peaceful Path Pottery is owned and operated by Richard Dana Paul. Dana earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Art at Maryville College in Tenn., and a Master’s Degree in Counseling at Westminster College in New Wilmington, PA. He has been making pottery for over four decades. A retired college administrator, Dana now pursues his love of pottery full time at his studio in Valdese, N.C. Dana’s work has been described as “Pottery with personality” due primarily to the variety of face pots featured in his catalog. He utilizes oxidization (electric kiln) and/or reduction (gas kiln) firing methods to achieve the vibrant colors and textures found in his pieces. A regular participant in art and craft fair events throughout Western North Carolina, Dana’s event schedule, as well as various samples of his most recent work, can be seen on Facebook: PeacefulPathPottery

Ron Philbeck
I make pots for daily use as well as pots that may serve a more decorative or ritualistic role in the home. I throw with soft clay and try to impart some nice energy into the work. I have many influences but most are from the Leach/Hamada lineage of potters. After almost 20 years of making pots I never tire of coming to the wheel and moving the clay. It takes persistence, love, and hard work to make good pots. At the same time a really wonderful pot can emerge from the wheel when my mind wanders and I am gazing out the studio window. I’m happy to do this work and to share it with others. All the pots are made with stoneware clay and are fired in my soda kiln. The sodium vapor reacts with the clay and slip to form a beautiful sheen on the pots. I have recently started decorating using wax resist and slip. The animals and birds on the pots are quirky and fun. I like them to have a bit of an attitude and personality. The imagery is another way for the user to interact with the pot and hopefully form a relationship with it that will last for years to come. http://www.ronphilbeckpottery.com
http://etsy.com/shop/RonPhilbeckPottery Facebook: RonPhilbeckPottery

Lucinda Pittman
Lucinda was born and raised in Charlotte. She received a B.S. Art Marketing and Production from Appalachian State University and attended many sessions at Penland School of Crafts. Lucinda lives in Saluda with husband and business partner Gerry and has been a professional potter since 1988.
Her work is hand built of white earthenware clay and colorfully decorated with underglazes and glazes. Her work is inspired by nature and is both fun and functional.

Judy Riley
Judy Riley is a studio potter who lives and works in Mooresville, NC in the winter and Vermilion, OH in the summer. She holds a degree in Industrial Design from Ohio State University and enjoyed a career of designing products for people. In 2018 she discovered the world of functional ceramics and has been exploring various building, glazing and firing techniques. Judy's work is inspired by other potters and by observing forms and patterns around us. Her style is evolving and your feedback is welcome.

Hannah Sidner
I'm Hannah Sidner and ceramics is my passion. I have a BFA in ceramics and a BSED in art education. I've spent years learning about ceramics and perfecting my craft. I am inspired by the vibrant colors of the mountains in Western North Carolina, where I went to school at Western Carolina University. I now live in and work on my ceramics in a small town nestled between Asheville and Charlotte. I spend my days making work that is filled with love and careful consideration.

Roger Strom
I have been a potter for over 25 years. In 2005, I moved to North Carolina and created a studio at my home. I balance my work between producing pottery, teaching pottery wheel classes and giving presentations using my pottery as metaphor in exploring spirituality.
Primarily I make useful pots for everyday life. I work primarily at the potter’s wheel. Some of my work is created by gently mixing two colors of clay. I then allow the rotation of the wheel to produce a lively interplay of dark and light clay as I form the vessel. Another line of work is decorated by layering glazes together which produces colors with greater depth and complexity. I work in electric-fired, mid-range stoneware.

Valerie Valvo
I started my career in the visual arts over 40 years ago as a graduate from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Transitioning into clay work in 2008. I am a full time Ceramic Artist working out of my studio in Shelby, North Carolina. I turn functional wares, create slabs thrown by hand, pinch pots for decorative knobs and I continue to try new processes. When designing and constructing a vessel I consider its characteristics and how to harmonize the form with my surface decorations. The embellished surfaces I create by sketching, clay slip applications, which accentuate the depth of my forms. These designs draw attention to the surface of my vessel’s flowing movement, that is not only visually beautiful but connected with the sense of touch. The best part of the process is being able to make all my own glazes, and colored slips. I enjoy making bisque ware stamps carved from clay, slip trailing is a joy and my new endeavor is using slip as a painting medium. A journey paved in clay is a long and often personal process of personal change and development. Instagram

Tricia Woodland
I fell in love with clay in 2003. What started as a weekly pottery class developed into a passion and love for the arts. I constantly look for ways to share a piece of myself through my pottery. My pieces often reflect my love for the outdoors, my roots of growing up in the Chesapeake Bay area and my faith. Having grown up and been educated thru the Lutheran Church, I often find inspiration in bible verses, prayers and hymns. I received my Bachelors of Art degree from Lenoir Rhyne University. I grew up in Annapolis, MD but call Cherryville NC home. Shelby, NC has also become close to my heart as I advocate for small business and Shop Local while working for Uptown Shelby Association. My home and studio in Cherryville is my place of creativity and peace. I hope each piece of pottery shares that peace with its new caretaker. I have been sharing my love of Clay at Cleveland Community College teaching a Beginner Pottery Class for the Continuing Ed. Dept. Facebook: WoodlandPottery

Debra Zimmerman
Debra Zimmerman, a potter and mosaic artist, has been creating art for most of her life. Having moved to Catawba Valley 10 years ago, she has spent the better part of that time dedicated to the craft of clay. Her unique and whimsical pottery and stained glass mosaics can be found at local art shows, gift shops and galleries under her business name ‘Groovy Girl Art Studio’. With a desire to educate and inspire others, she teaches pottery and mosaic classes in area schools, community businesses and in her home studio which she shares with her husband, Dale, also a potter. Facebook: GroovyGirlStudio