Seagrove Potters Celebration of Spring Studio Tour & Kiln Opening

April 18 & 19, 2015

1423 NC Hwy 705

Seagrove, NC

Open both days - 10am - 5pm

The Celebration of Spring Studio Tour is my favorite event of the year. The countryside has sprung back to life, the grass is green, the trees are leafing out, and lots of flowers are blooming. It seems that no matter what the weather, there is a good turnout for this event.

Along with our "standards" from the gas kiln, we will have lots of new wood fired pots in the gallery.

If you are a tea or sake lover, Jeff has some real beauties from the last two wood firings.

There are 40+ potters on the tour this year. Many will offer demonstrations, refreshments, and door prizes. I will be working on carving a large ginkgo leaf bowl, and I am thinking Jeff will throw something big on Saturday afternoon. We have tour maps available in our gallery. Round up your friends and family and make Seagrove your destination this weekend!

return of the gypsy potter...

Jeff finally arrived in Greensboro this morning after missing his connecting flight in San Francisco yesterday. He couldn't get a flight east until 11:00 pm which made his long journey even longer. He was totally wiped out but even as we were loading his bags in the car he started taking treasures out of his suitcase to show me. When we got home is was like Christmas morning, except things were wrapped in socks and t-shirts! I couldn't believe what he managed to get in his suitcase.

 A brick of tea... the fanciest I have ever seen. This is tea from China that Jeff bought at the festival. He also brought some matcha powdered tea home, along with a whisk. I think I see a tea ceremony in our future.

 Beautiful sgraffito plate and on the left is Soju in a very fancy bottle. Soju is like vodka only slightly sweeter.

 These tiny treasures may be my favorites. Traditional Korean Inlay designs.

 I took this photo to give you a sense of size, like I said, tiny treasures!

 This is just a small sampling of the sake cups that he either purchased or traded for. Potters wrap their cups and tea bowls in beautiful scarves that have their contact information printed on them. Most often they are then placed in a wood box. This one is from the daughter of Korea's National Treasure. I am not sure that I placed the correct cup on top of the box. Jeff was fast asleep when I took these and I wasn't about to wake him up to ask! I really like the one in the foreground on the left. My quick photos doesn't do it justice. I appreciate the respect that pottery is given in Asian countries, wrapped in silk, placed in a special box. No newspaper or plastic bags. Jeff did bring a pot home in a paper bag and it was beautifully printed... I will try to get a picture of it. 

 LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!

 and each panel is different

This is Jeff's certificate for winning the special prize for the Korean kick wheel competition... the only thing I can understand is Jeff Brown! The tissue paper on the left  has brush work and says something about Jeff and I already forgot what the story was behind that one.

This is only a small sample of treasures. There are many more little cups, little dishes, Korean wine, handmade jackets for both of us, and more scarves for me.

As soon as he awakens from his travel coma, I will have pictures and video from MunGyeong.

hanging out with the neighbors

Last night we invited our potter friend and neighbor, Phil Pollet (Old Gap Pottery), to join us for dinner. Jeff and I worked together in the kitchen to make a tasty dish of tofu and stir fried veggies, served over udon noodles. We broke opened a bottle of sake and had an enjoyable evening of smart conversation and good food.
We stayed up way too late and slept in. I couldn't resist take a picture of our cup selection washed and drying on the kitchen island this morning...

Starting in the back from left to right, clockwise: Tokkuri (sake server) by Jeff, faceted cup by Jack Troy, shino cup by John Zentner, Pedestal sake cup by Jeff Brown, sake cup by me, sake cup by Phil Rogers, and sort of in the center faceted cup by Jeff.
The flowers are in a hexagonal wood fired fired vase that Jeff made. It was the first pot the I purchased from him nearly ten years ago. It's still one of my favorites.

Evenings like this one really make me feel fortunate to be living in Seagrove.

As for today... we partially unloaded a kiln and I can't wait to share pictures of Jeff's Korean teabowls (chasabal). Hopefully I will have pictures tomorrow.

Three Sake Cups

Wood fired, porcelain - Temple white glaze