Where: Bulldog Pottery
3306 US Hwy Business 220
Seagrove, NC 27341
When: May 26 & 27 – Memorial Day weekend
Saturday 9:00am-4:00pm
Sunday 10:00am-4:00pm
Bulldog Pottery presents "Cousins in Clay": An intimate Contemporary Ceramic Art Show in Seagrove, NC at Bulldog Pottery. Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke will host exceptional clay artists Ron Meyers, renowned potter from Georgia, North Carolinian mountain potter Michael Kline, and North Carolinian potter Judith Duff. Ron is one of the most influential of potters and educators of our time. He is famous for his challengingly charismatic animal portraits, that decorate his undulating and expressionistic pottery. Judith Duff, a potter from Brevard, NC, makes wood-fired organic, and ethereally earthy pottery. Michael Kline from Bakersville, NC is known for his lyrical floral brush imagery that gracefully wraps around his wood-fired traditional pottery forms. Bruce and Samantha of Bulldog Pottery specialize in iridescent crystalline glazes and imagery that reflect their interests in the natural world. This is a special time to meet the potters, add to your art collection or begin one. "Cousins in Clay"- is a kinship based on shared appreciation for the pursuit of excellence within the diverse language of clay. The event runs from May 26-27, Sat/10-6. and, Sun/10-4. Michael Kline will present a brush demonstration on Sat. at 2:00pm and on Sun. at 1:00 pm. Chronis Pou Vasiliou will fill the air with his enchanting Greek Bouzouki music throughout Saturday afternoon. For more details call 336-302-3469, e-mail bulldog@bulldogpottery.com , www.cousinsinclay.com
There is a long traditional history of working potters making pots in Seagrove, and this tradition remains strong and continues to grow in new ways. The event's name, ‘Cousins in Clay”, is attributed to fellow potter Michael Kline who referred euphemistically on his blog Sawdust and Dirt to a “visit to his clay cousins in Seagrove”, Bruce and Samantha decided to invite Michael to participate in their first Bulldog Pottery Studio Art sale, and titled it “Cousins in Clay”. This is now an annual event.
JUDITH DUFF
MICHAEL KLINE
Michael Kline moved to North Carolina in 1998 after being awarded a competitive position as artist in residence at the Penland School of Crafts. While being a self motivated and focused resident at Penland, Michael worked on a body of larger scale stoneware pottery inspired by the traditional stoneware of the Catawba Valley and Seagrove areas of North Carolina. Michael's inspired traditional forms are graced with his elegant floral brushwork giving a botanical theme to his wood-fired pottery jugs and jar forms. Sometimes his pots are covered with a honey amber color glaze that is as appetizing as maple syrup. His black floral intertwining vine patterns inlayed on a tactilely textured slip and glaze, is a decoration uniquely his own.
Just as the energy of the clay spinning on his wheel, Michael energetically spins a web through cyberspace, keeping up with all of the latest technology that is available to artists while maintaining a full time studio life with his wife and two children in the mountains. Michael shares his personal journey of the day-to-day life of being a full time studio potter through his well-known “Sawdust and Dirt” clay blog. In the summer/fall 2008 issue of the Studio Potte r magazine there is an article Michael wrote about his blogging experiences. Michael's blog was most recently featured in the winter 2011 issue of Clay Times in the article Blogging Potters Everywhere . You can get to know Michael and share his experiences by following him on his blog, facebook, and twitter, or watch him on his You Tube channel sharing some of his studio techniques.
BULLDOG POTTERY - BRUCE GHOLSON and SAMANTHA HENNEKE
Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke moved to Seagrove in 1997 with the vision of planting their roots and setting up their own full time clay studio called “Bulldog Pottery”, named for their two American Bulldogs Moka and Babu. They both grew up in small college towns, Bruce in Stillwater, Oklahoma and Samantha in Blacksburg, Va. Bruce graduated with a ceramics BFA from University of Georgia in Athens and his MFA in ceramics from Alfred University. Samantha Henneke earned her BFA in ceramics from Alfred University. College provided an incredible platform piled with a plethora of information, skills, and the tools for them to continue to grow and gather knowledge for their future in ceramics.
Their studio is a collaborative environment that provides them with support to express themselves as individuals, more than they would be able to achieve singularly. Their work has become known as an eclectic mix of form, imagery, texture, and pattern integrated by their rich and distinctive glazes. Bruce and Samantha share a love of nature, pottery, good design, and an intense interest in glazes. Together they have formulated a unique series of molybdenum crystalline glazes that skin the surface of elegantly thrown vases and jars. The distinctive character of molybdenum crystalline glaze is diamond or star shaped crystals, with iridescent refractive rainbow colors that blend in subtly with the background color. Bruce and Samantha have an online presence and participate actively in the social media world. Through their website, blog, facebook, and twitter they keep their collectors and friends up to date with what is happening in and around their studio. As written by Marla Coulthard, “Bruce and Samantha are contemporary potters, yet their work conveys a genuine connection to the traditional pottery that is Seagrove.”
