Seagrove – It’s about the clay. Back in the day, folks living in the Seagrove, NC area discovered large veins of clay perfect for pottery. And it wasn’t all about creating works of art, although that happened, too. Plates, platters, bowls, mugs, and other everyday pottery items were commonly made by local potters. Today, people from all over the world travel to see and purchase Seagrove pottery.
I hadn’t spent a lot of time in Randolph County, “The Heart of NC” – until three weeks ago. “The towns of Archdale, Asheboro, Franklinville, Liberty, Ramseur, Randleman, Seagrove, Staley and Trinity are located within Randolph County with Asheboro being the county seat.”
As guests of Randolph County, our group spent three and a half enlightening days exploring the towns of Seagrove, Asheboro, and Randleman with Tammy O’Kelley, Visitors Bureau Executive Director. I’ll be telling you about some great restaurants, a fun brewery, and animal adventures in future articles.
Did you know that Seagrove is known as “’The Handmade Pottery Capital of the United States,’ and people visit from as far away as China and Australia, not to mention each of the 50 states?” ~ Heart of NC. We spent time at five different pottery shops/studios, the North Carolina Pottery Center, and as an added bonus, the Carolina Bronze Sculpture Garden & Foundry!
Each pottery shop is unique in their method, design, and history. The thing about pottery – and all art, really – is that part of appreciating the art is appreciating the people behind the art.
See the GALLERY at the end of this article for more pictures of the potters and their work.
Thomas Pottery – Art and nature come together at this shop. Bobbie and Scott Thomas have created a gorgeous place to visit with beautiful landscaping, decor and covered porch seating where you can relax and take in the view. Their on-site shop is in an authentic cabin they had moved to their property.
Thomas Pottery is also where we did a little test with Mary Murkin, owner of Carriage House Tea. We put some of Mary’s cold tea in glass, pottery & plastic pitchers, checking after some time had gone by which kept the tea cool the longest. Surprise! Who knew the pottery pitcher would win? Results: Glass 65°, Plastic 62°, and Pottery 58°. Now we all know!
Eck McCanless Pottery – Eck (his real name) McCanless is a second generation potter who learned the craft by practicing in his parents shop. He’s best known for his truly gorgeous “agateware”. Of course it looked effortless when he demonstrated creating a piece for us. That’s what the best do, make their craft look effortless.
Kings Pottery – Terry and Anna King make functional kitchenware, tableware, and traditional salt glazed pottery fired in a wood kiln, but they are especially known for their face jugs. They’ve been featured on Antiques Road Show as folk art appraisers.
These two have also created a lovely place to visit. The outdoor landscaping inspired and captivated my imagination.
Original Owens Pottery – Founded in 1895 and spanning three centuries, Original Owens Pottery is the official oldest pottery shop in North Carolina. It’s operated by Boyd Owens (son of well known M.L. Owens), who began his craft as a child working with his siblings, mother and father. Owens is famous for the hard to achieve red glaze. Just gorgeous! I left this pottery shop with four of his pieces, including a red glaze piece.
Seagrove Stoneware – David Fernandez and Alexa Modderno own Seagrove Stoneware Inn and Pottery. The Inn is housed in a beautiful, large home on the same property as their shop and gallery. If you stay at the Inn, you can have your own pottery making experience. We spent time with David, who is also the Mayor of Seagrove by the way. He’s very involved in the Seagrove community; serving on the board of the Seagrove Area Potters Association, the board of the NC Pottery Center, and has served as a Town Commissioner.
Each of us took a turn throwing a pot. Mine is not pictured because I COULD NOT get the sides to come up! Finally, I stopped and declared my piece a candy dish!
After the pottery shops, we also toured Carolina Bronze Sculpture Garden & Foundry.
Carolina Bronze Sculpture Garden & Foundry – Ed and Melissa Walker’s dream was to build the best fine art bronze casting foundry on the East Coast. In my humble opinion, they’ve succeeded. Because they do commissioned work for well known people, companies, presidential libraries, universities, and more, we weren’t able to take a lot of photos.
I will tell you that the process is amazing. And, we saw a very cool phoenix sculpture that was to be installed at Elon University a couple days after we were at the foundry. They were also working on artistic walkway railings that are going to be installed at the Smithsonian.
We were able to take a picture of Melissa showing us commissioned trains for a commercial client.
The Walker’s property covers 55 acres. Many area people bring boxed or home made lunch to eat next to a pond with a sculpture garden around the edges that the Walkers installed. The sculpture garden is populated by their work as well as works by other well known artists.
North Carolina Pottery Center – The building itself is beautifully open and fresh, feeling like new construction, you’d never know it’s 20 years old. The Center has “permanent and rotating exhibits including more than 800 pieces of pottery, artifacts, and photographs tracing NC’s pottery history from Native Americans to the present.” ~ Heart of NC
Click on any image in the gallery below to enlarge more images of the pottery shops, foundry, and pottery center we toured.
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Plan to stay 2 or 3 days to get the most out of your Seagrove visit. You’ll be able to see a good number of the just under 100 pottery shops within a 20 mile radius in the Seagrove area. Here’s a MAP showing 42 pottery shops and the NC Pottery Center that are within 5 miles of downtown Seagrove.
Have fun and bring home the special pieces that speak to you!
Read more about the town of Seagrove HERE.
