Seagrove is a traditional Pottery area and has been since the 1700s. It is Americas largest community of working potteries and according to the map has about 90 potters working in the area. It has a Gallery and Museum dedicated to the history of the Potteries and to showcase contemporary potters in the area. Its a good starting point to get a feel of a lot of potters' work and to help decide who to go and see.
I was looking for any signs of influence on their work from the North Devon slipware and sgraffito style – I couldn't see any from what was on show at the Gallery, though I did have a couple of leads already to go to New Salem pottery as they are producing sgraffito style jugs. Also, with no relationship to North Devon style but purely from an historical perspective Westmoore Pottery had been suggested as a place to visit by Tom Beaman as this family have been potting since the 18th century.
First stop though was Mark Hewitt at Pittsborough, just outside of Seagrove. Again most people I had already met suggested to visit Mark. He is a Brit, married an American and settled in North Carolina about 25 years ago. It was fascinating to meet him and to see his studio, a place he found about 25 years ago, going for a song and with plenty of acreage to use to build a studio and pottery. Mark trained under Michael Cardew and is internationally known and renowned as a potter and is also very knowledgeable about the history of pottery in NC. He has also just co-written a book called the Potter's Eye and has written for Ceramics in America. He was working on a large pot when we arrived, so carried on talking to us whilst working at the wheel – at one point he got out a large blow torch and heated up his pot! Looked a bit drastic but it was to stop it getting too moist. Mark had some huge pieces on display outside and I had a look around his 2 wood fired kilns – one of which was the traditional shaped 'groundhog' kiln – its low in the ground one end where the wood fuel is fed and has a low ceiling, nothing like an upright bottle kiln however you can walk into. I had read about these back in Bideford and was amazed to see one in the flesh. Mark was great, I think he enjoyed talking to some Brits as we got chatting about football as we left. He was also very generous and gave me a copy of his book and pointed me to some relevant copies of Ceramics in America that feature articles on North Devon Pottery.
I left with more knowledge, a real sense of having met a master potter and a friendly down to earth man. I also left with a wonderful mug that I purchased from Mark.
Below are pictures of Mark's groundhog kiln.
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