Seagrove Potters Kiln Openings this Weekend

"Seagrove Potteries" book by Steve Compton and Seagrove Potters map produced be the Seagrove Area Pottery Association

We are here to debunk a Seagrove Pottery myth. The myth is that the Seagrove Potters are sold out after the "Celebration of Seagrove Potters", and no longer have pottery left to sell in their shops. There are many of us that continue to be hard at work, making more pots in our studios. A large group of potters have "One more Hurrah" and hold special Holiday Kiln Openings in December. 

Below are some of the potters that are busy and hustling in their studios to make more pottery to fill the shelves of their pottery shops for this season.

This weekend on December 13, 2014 around 15 Seagrove Potteries will have special kiln openings.

Here are the Seagrove Potteries that we are aware of having a holiday kiln opening this weekend.  And without a doubt if you don't see a pottery that you know listed below stop by there shop. We are sure they will be glad to see you.

December 13 -- Join us for One More Hurrah in 2014!

Johnston and Gentithes Art Pottery

Eck McCanless Pottery

Dean and Martin Pottery

Latham's Pottery

Studio Touya Pottery

From the Ground Up Pottery 

Windsong Pottery

Hickory Hill Pottery

Lufkin Pottery

Michele Hastings and Jeff Brown Pottery

Westmoore Pottery

Ben Owen Pottery

Chris Luther Pottery

Blue Hen Pottery

and Bulldog Pottery

Bruce Gholson & Samantha Henneke - Bulldog Pottery, Dec. 13, 2014, Holiday Kiln Opening, Seagrove, North Carolina

This is the Front and Back of the recent Holiday Kiln Opening Postcard we mailed across the United States.

Bruce Gholson & Samantha Henneke - Bulldog Pottery, Dec. 13, 2014, Holiday Kiln Opening, Seagrove, North Carolina

Lots in the Works at Bulldog Pottery

Bruce Gholson working on trimming plates, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, NC

We are happily making pottery in the studio and finishing up one more round of pots just in time for our annual Holiday Kiln Opening on Saturday, December 13, 2014.  We like to ring in the New Year with one more Hurrah! We are making covered jars, platters, mugs, bowls, tumblers, plates, and cups.  All glazed and decorated with our Moka patterns. We will also have a select grouping of vases with our flowing molybdenum and matte crystalline glazes.  

We discovered a new podcast we enjoyed listening too last night for the first time called, Snap Judgement. It is a NPR radio show showcasing a conglomerate of folks telling stories about contemporary society.  We are looking forward to listening to more today.

There are a handful of Seagrove Potters also having special kiln openings on December 13th... the ones we are aware of are, Ben Owen Pottery, Johnston and Gentithes Pottery, Latham's Pottery, Jeff Brown and Michele Hastings Pottery, Westmoore Pottery and us Bulldog Pottery -- and that's more than a handful.

 Samantha Henneke signing her large mugs, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, NC

 Bruce Gholson's grouping of covered jars, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, NC

Below are my covered jars waiting for knobs to be applied to the top. I like having the freedom of adding differerent shaped knobs to the jars. It gives them their own personality.  

Tables full of pottery in process,  Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, NC

Happy Thanksgiving

Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson and Luna Bella, Bulldog Pottery

Happy Thanksgiving!  

We want to thank all of you for making our artful adventure fun and fulfilling.  We love making pottery---And we appreciate all your support.  Good wishes to everyone on this wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Gloria and Ed are fixing turkey today (thank you Fresh Market!) --- Bruce and I are working in the studio towards our Holiday Kiln Opening.  We will take a break in the afternoon for some yummies and then back to the wheel to make a few more pieces for Saturday, December 13. We are attaching labels and stamps to our Kiln Opening postcards and mailing them to you this week. 

Best to you and your families,

Samantha, Bruce, Ed, and Gloria  

Samantha Henneke, Bruce Gholson, Gloria Henneke, Edmund Henneke

7th annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters, November 21-23, 2014

Celebration of Seagrove Potters, Seagrove, North Carolina

We are excitedly looking forward to the Celebration of Seagrove Potters this year. It is coming up soon, and will be here before we can count to three. Well I hope not that fast, many pots to be glazed and fired yet.  We will have a new selection of our decorative crystalline vases for the Celebration event, and then on December 13, 2014 we will have a fresh kiln load of our functional pottery for our Holiday Kiln Opening here at Bulldog Pottery.  

Every year, we the Seagrove Potters, gather under one roof at the Historic Luck's Cannery just a short distance from downtown Seagrove. This weekend is a good opportunity to see the diversity of pottery that we all have available throughout the year. The Seagrove Potters are open to the public just about every day of the year (except most of us are closed on major holidays). We all have individual shop hours and each shop is unique in its own way.  The Seagrove Potters website is a good way to get in contact with individual shops.

The Celebration of Seagrove Potters

November 21, 2014 is the special Gala from 6:00pm - 9:00pm

November 22, 2014 9:00am - 5:00pm

November 23, 2014 10:00am - 4:00pm

At the Historic Luck's Cannery 

798 Pottery Highway 705 

Seagrove, North Carolina 27341

Gala tickets (includes Friday night dinner, $45 per person) can be purchased online by visiting the Seagrove Potters website, and this ticket is good for the entire weekend. The Friday evening Gala is a great time to shop the Seagrove Potter's booths. You get first selection of the potters work and participate in the special collaboration auction. 

Saturday morning the Celebration opens up at 9:00am and Sunday at 10:00am.  On Saturday and Sunday, tickets ($5 per person) can be purchased at the door of the Historic Luck's Cannery.  We are always amazed at just how many pots there are to choose from for this event, under one roof at the Historic Lucks Cannery on Pottery Hwy 705. There is pottery for everyone here, and we hope you make it out to our little town of Seagrove in central North Carolina.

You can follow the Seagrove Potters on facebook at Celebration of Seagrove Potters, and Seagrove Potters. This is a great way to keep up with all the pottery and activities that the Seagrove Potters are working on.

  

List of Seagrove Potteries Participating in the 7th annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters

Avery, Ben Owen, Blue Hen, Blue Stone, Bulldog, Caldwell-Hohl, Chad Brown, Chris Luther, Crystal King, Daniel Johnston, David Stuempfle, Dean & Martin, Dirt Works, Donna Craven, Dover, Eck McCanless, Frank Neef, From the Ground Up, Gingerbread House, Great White Oak Gallery, Hatfield, Hickory Hill, JLK Jewelry, Johnston & Gentithes, Keith Martindale, King’s, Koepnick, Kovack, Latham’s, Levi Mahan, Luck’s Ware, Lufkin, Matthew Kelly, McCanless, McKay, McNeill's, Michele Hastings & Jeff Brown, Nelda French, Nichols, Old Gap, Patrick Rowe, Pebbles, Potts, Ray, Riggs, Rockhouse, Seagrove Stoneware, Snowhill, Southern Spirits, Studio Touya, The Hutch, Tom Gray, Triple C, Turn & Burn, Whynot, and Windsong.

Celebration of Seagrove Potters Annual Spring Kiln Opening

Visit the Seagrove Potteries, Seagrove, North Carolina

  There are 37 Seagrove Potteries collaborating together on April 26 and 27, 2014 for the annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters Spring Kiln Openings. Bruce and I will have a large selection of our crystalline vases here at our Bulldog Pottery shop.

We want to thank all the volunteers that are working hard at organizing the Seagrove Potters' spring kiln opening event.  And thank you to our sponsors, Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau and Life 103.1. We do appreciate your support! There will be a map that you can pick up at any of the participating potteries.

 The Seagrove Potteries that are participating are

Avery Pottery & Tileworks, Ben Owen Pottery, Blue Hen Pottery, Bulldog Pottery, Caldwell-Hohl Artworks, Coop of Seagrove Potters, Chris Luther Pottery, Crystal King Pottery, Dean & Martin Pottery, Dirtworks, Donna Craven Pottery, Eck McCanless Pottey, Freeman Pottery, From the Ground Up, Great White Oak Gallery, Hickory Hill Pottery, JLK Jewelry @ Jugtown, Johnston & Gentithes Art Pottery, Jugtown Pottery, Keith Martindale Pottery, Kings Pottery with Crystal King, Latham's Pottery, Luck's Ware, McNeill's Pottery, Michele Hastings & Jeff Brown Pottery, O'Quinn Pottery, Pottery by Frank Neef, Pottery Road Studio & Gallery, Pott's Pottery, Ray Pottery, Seagrove Stoneware, Smith Pottery, Snowhill Pottery & Tileworks, Studio Touya, Thomas Pottery, Tom Gray Pottery, Triple C Pottery.

Follow, Like, and Share our Celebration of Seagrove Potters Facebook page, there are many posts of all the different potters that are participating in this years spring kiln opening event.  We also have a Seagrove Potters Facebook page that is filled with images of Seagrove Potters.

Visit the Seagrove Potteries, Seagrove, North Carolina

The Ubiquitous Daffodil

Daffodil at Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, NC

The beginning of spring. 

Our icon of flowers. 

The ubiquitous daffodil. 

We  look forward to this time of year.  When the daffodils begin to bloom and we know that warm weather will be here soon.  In the Bulldog Pottery studio we are throwing vases of various shapes with a focus on our crystalline flowing glazes.  

"Daffie Days"

April 4-5, 2014

Friday and Saturday 10:00am -5:00pm

at Bulldog Pottery 3306 US Hwy 220 Alt. Seagrove, NC 27341

5 miles south of the town of Seagrove look for the blue water tower

Vase by Samantha Henneke, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, NC

Bulldog Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening

Bulldog Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening- December 14, 2013, Seagrove, NC

Bulldog Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening

On December 14, 2013

10:00am - 5:00pm

3306 US Hwy 220 Alt

Seagrove, NC 27341

336-302-4452 or 910-428-9728

Join Bulldog Pottery on Facebook

More Seagrove Potters with December 14th Holiday Kiln Openings are

Ben Owen Pottery

Dean and Martin Pottery

Donna Craven Pottery

From the Ground Up Pottery

Johnston and Gentithes Pottery

Michele Hastings and Jeff Brown Pottery

Bulldog Pottery Holiday Kiln Opening- December 14, 2013, Seagrove, NC

A Note-
We have new Exit Numbers into Seagrove. Seagrove is Exit 61 and the Black Ankle is Exit 58.

New Moka Glaze Pottery just in time for Celebration of Seagrove Potters Weekend

Bulldog Pottery Seagrove, North Carolina

 We have unloaded our second Moka glaze kiln this year for this weekend's Celebration of Seagrove Potters - Nov 22-24, 2013.  We will have one more kiln firing in time for our Holiday Kiln Opening on December 14, 2013.  There will be a few more Seagrove Potteries having kiln openings on that day.. Ben Owen Pottery, Michele Hastings and Jeff Brown Pottery, Dean and Martin Pottery, Donna Craven Pottery, From the Ground Up Pottery, and Johnston and Gentithes Pottery.  If I find out about anymore potteries we will let you know.

We enjoy making pots.

Lots of ideas whirling around in our minds.

We have mugs, bowls, cups, covered jars, and plates.

Bulldog Pottery Seagrove, North Carolina

Samantha made some of her insect plates.

Bulldog Pottery Seagrove, North Carolina 

 Ed and Gloria help us polish the bottoms of our pieces making the bottoms smooth to the touch.

Bulldog Pottery Seagrove, North Carolina

Bulldog Pottery Seagrove, North Carolina

We have a new puppy. 

Her name is Luna Bella. She is 4 months old today.

Both Bruce and Samantha made collaborations this for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters. Samantha decorated a large vase thrown by Ben Owen III and Bruce glazed a covered jar thrown by  Fred Johnston. These pieces will be auctioned off tonight at the evening Gala. Tickets can be purchased using eventbrite. Visit the Seagrove Potters website for more information about the Celebration and the Seagrove Potters.

The pots travel back in forth between both potteries... from making to decoratiing to signing to glazing to firing. 

Collaboration Vase going back to Ben's to be signed 

After Ben turned the large vase, he drove the vase over to us when it was still to wet to pick-up and sign.  The decorating that Samantha planned to do needs to be done at a specific time and Ben wanted to make sure that it was at Bulldog Pottery wet enough to put the dot pattern onto.  We drove the vase back to his pottery so he could sign the vase.  A lot of effort and time goes into the collaborations. These pieces are made by many Seagrove Potters for tonight's evening Gala. The Gala is the kick-off for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters weekend.

Ben Owen III holding the vase after he signed it

Samantha is holding the vase after it came out of the firing yesterday.  We could hold a contest to guess the number of dots on the piece, but then we would have to count them.  This is by far, the largest piece that Samantha has ever dotted.

Samantha Henneke with collaboration piece 

Bruce is holding Fred Johnston's thrown covered jar. Bruce glazed this piece with one of our celedon glazes and fired it in the gas kiln.

Bruce Gholson with collaboration piece

Collaboration by Fred Johnston and Bruce Gholson

We set up most of our booth for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters last night. We are still working on polishing, pricing, and packing our Moka glaze pottery for this weekend's Seagrove Potters show. 

Samantha Henneke at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters 2014

Bruce is wheeling out empty boxes to take back home to fill up with more pottery! There will be lots of pottery this weekend at the Luck's Cannery on 798 Pottery Highway 705 in Seagrove, North Carolina. Follow the Celebration of Seagrove Potters Facebook page and the Seagrove Potters Facebook page to find out more about us working potters here in Seagrove, NC.

Bruce Gholson at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters 2013

Bulldog Pottery booth last night. We will put the finishing touches to our booth later this afternoon, just before the Celebration Gala tonight.

Bulldog Pottery booth almost finished Thursday evening for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters 2013

6th Annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters

Celebration of Seagrove Potters November 22-24, 2013 in Seagrove, NC

Next week...

6th Annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters

at Historic Luck’s Cannery 

798 N.C. Pottery Highway 705

Seagrove, North Carolina, 27341

• Friday Nov 22, Gala 6 - 9 Catered reception, live music, collaborative auction, 1st pick of pottery
• Saturday, Nov 23, 9 - 6 Silent auction 1 - 3 Demonstrations 11 - 5

• Sunday Nov, 24, 10 - 4 Demonstrations 11 - 4

• Saturday & Sunday Show Admission $5 Children 12 & Under Free Friday night Gala $40 in Advance Gala tickets purchase here and more info available at www.CelebrationofSeagrovePotters.com

The Celebration of Seagrove Potters kicks off the weekend with an exciting and festive Friday night Gala event.

The 6th Annual Celebration of Seagrove Potters is November 22nd – 24th. Seagrove potters have been working for months in preparation for this big event. This year’s Celebration features 57 Seagrove pottery shops and more than 100 authentic Seagrove artists. The Celebration, held in the historic Luck’s Cannery on 798 N.C. Highway 705 in Seagrove, is one of the most spectacular pottery events in North Carolina. Approximately 5,000 people visit each year throughout the weekend.

The Friday Night Gala, November 22nd, provides customers the opportunity to preview all the pottery available and to be first in line to purchase. Additionally, they enjoy live music and meet and greet with Seagrove potters during the catered reception. This year the menu features local restaurant, "Something Different" of Asheboro, live music and festive beverages.

 Ticket information at Celebration Of Seagrove Potters. Tickets for the Gala are $40 in advance purchase here. The Gala ticket price also includes Saturday and Sunday admission to the Celebration.

Saturday and Sunday event tickets can be purchased at the door for $5, with children 12 and under admitted free.

Celebration of Seagrove Potters November 22-24, 2013 in Seagrove, NC

Over 100 Seagrove potters, from 57 shops, are participating this year. Participating shops are: Avery, Ben Owen, Blue Hen, Blue Stone, Bulldog, Caldwell-Hohl, Chad Brown, Chris Luther, Crystal King, Daniel Johnston, David Fernandez, David Stuempfle, Dean & Martin, Dirt Works, Donna Craven, Dover, Eck McCanless, Fireshadow, Frank Neef, From the Ground Up, Gingerbread House, Great White Oak Gallery, Hatfield, Hickory Hill, JLK Jewelry, Johnston & Gentithes, Keith Martindale, King’s, Koepnick, Kovack, Lantern Hill, Latham’s, Levi Mahan, Luck’s Ware, Lufkin, Matthew Kelly, McKay, McNeill's, Michele Hastings & Jeff Brown, Nelda French, Nichols, Old Gap, Patrick Rowe, Pebbles, Potts, Ray, Riggs, Rockhouse, Seagrove Stoneware, Snowhill, Studio Touya, The Hutch, Tom Gray, Triple C, Turn & Burn, Whynot, and Windsong.

Celebration of Seagrove Potters November 22-24, 2013 in Seagrove, NC

The Celebration appreciates the support of the following sponsors: Life 103.1, Randolph Telephone Membership Corporation, Starworks, Carolina Arts, Flowers on Main, Village Printing, Bay Electric and Century Link.

Pottery Mugs and Wabi Sabi

Bruce Gholson, Large Mug, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina

Our recent pottery series, that we made and finished in our studio just before the Mint's PMI has us really excited.  We are  contemplating the results, looking, and thinking about what is possible next. We are intrigued by the effects we are getting by layering glazes and slips onto red clay. Where will we be able to take some of what Bruce has discovered, and some of what Samantha has brought back from our glaze archive? This is a good question, and one that we converse about daily.

Our pottery cycle frequently hits a crescendo, and thankfully we come back down to working more sanely in arpeggios.  Working in the studio making pottery from day to day is a wonderful experience, then a deadline comes along.  Boom the adrenaline pops in and final decisions need to be made. This is one of the balancing acts a full-time potter needs to make, how many deadlines to put on the calendar and how close to have them together to stay sane and healthy.

Bruce made these mugs out of red clay and has played around with layering glazes along with slips.  A few years ago at the North Carolina Potters Conference, Jack Troy mentioned a book called Wabi Sabi. We purchased the book after the conference and have recently bought another book about Wabi Sabi Painting. Wabi Sabi defined (from Wiki) - Wabi-sabi represents a comprehensive Japanese world view or aesthetic centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete".  Our interpretation from this is how to work with the materials in a more casual and playful way and respond to the results as they develop.

Which actually reminds me of another book series by Umberto Eco. Two of them that we have is on the "History of Beauty"and another called "On Ugliness". So much to read out there, how lucky are we!  Especially to have the internet to build our library.  We seem to get to a bookstore, at most, every two months living out here in the countryside, so we frequently buy books online.  We love books!

Bruce Gholson, Large Mug, side 2,  Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina

Bruce made these two, of the many mugs that we took to the Potters Market Invitational in Charlotte a couple of weeks ago. Both mugs sold to the same person that said she couldn't choose between them so she decided to buy both.  It is great that they get to stay together, and that she appreciated the experimental fun they exemplified.

Bruce Gholson, Large Mug, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina

This is the same mug.  We love the 3 dimensionality of pottery for its potential of slip and glaze painting that can be evolving as it wraps around the form.  Exploring the potential of the materials and moving and changing them across the surface of the piece. 

Bruce Gholson, Large Mug, side2, Bulldog Pottery, Seagrove, North Carolina

This is my image of the morning, September 21, "Into the Earth", for day 252 of my 365 day project.  This is the first photo that I have actually taken something and moved it from where I found it. I first saw this beautiful autumn leaf in the grass and clover.  I moved it a few feet away onto the dirt and liked the contrast of the color to the brown and grey hues. To see more of my images from my 365 day project visit our Bulldog Pottery Flickr page.

"Into the Earth" Image by Samantha Henneke and title by Bruce Gholson, Seagrove, NC

Fabulous Time at Bulldog Pottery

We had a fabulous Saturday. We want to thank everyone that came out to our place here in Seagrove, North Carolina. The day was chilly and we had a taste of Carolina snow during the day. The flakes were large and dusted the ground. Saturday we pulled out an assortment of colored cups. Colors that remind us of mangoes and strawberries, celery, and summer skies.

The word was out that there were kiln openings happening here in Seagrove, Chris Luther Pottery, Westmoore Pottery, Thomas Pottery, Avery Pottery and Tileworks, and Jugtown Pottery all were having special days, as well as many other potteries that are working hard after the Celebration to keep their shops stocked for the season.

We have so much fun talking with people. Stories of movies, inspirations, hobbies, and adventures filled our space.

A plate by Samantha -- a crystalline glaze flowing into a colored shiny glaze. We like the way the snowy peach glaze changes the color of the turquoise around the plate's perimeter.

This glazed wall hanging has a lot of activity and movement.

We received the new Carolina Arts just in time to hand it out at the Holiday kiln opening..

Carolina Arts is filled with info on art events, shops, and galleries across North and South Carolina

Ed is fixing up all of the yummy foods that Gloria made for the day- lentil and sausage soup, stollen pastry, hot cider, gingerbread cake, cookies, pimento cheese (yummy!), and coffee.

Just about everything was eaten during the day. We had a wonderful turn out despite the chill and snow.

I popped out of the studio during the snow and captured some close ups.

Bulldog Pottery gets ready the Potters Market

Lining the inside of vases with glaze before gluing on pedestal rings.

Our Moka glaze kiln is cooling, and we have some of these vases in the kiln firing as we write this. We have our fingers crossed that we are blessed with a successful firing, and unload some great pots. As always with a potter's kiln, no matter how many times one has fired, something can and usually does come up. Why? Well not sure. Materials change, touch changes, life changes...... moods change. But you know that is what is so beautiful about hand made pottery. Each piece is individually made on a particular day, depending on the artists feelings and environment. Bruce and I started buying pots a handful of years ago. We enjoy having other peoples pots around us. We have a lot of our own too, but it is special to see a Cynthia Bringle on our table, Micheal Kline at our entrance way, or our Mark Shapiro flask with handles on a counter top. We bought a Matt Kelleher basket form at last years Potters' Market...Love it. It sits in our kitchen. I bought a plate as well from Matt, and a plate from Kyle Carpenter. We collect plates from different artists and when we have company, we bring them out and everyone eats off of a different plate. Fun! We collect plates of various sizes and acquired a nice sandwich size from Sam Taylor this past May, and one from Shawn Ireland during this years Toe River Arts Tour.

Well for all of you that love pottery, the Mint Museum's "Potters Market" is this weekend at the Mint Museum on Randolph road in Charlotte. This one day show features 40 potters from across North Carolina. The proceeds go to the Delhoum Pottery Collection where they purchase new pieces of pottery for the Mint's collection. You can see their 2010-2011 itinerary and the list of potters at the Mint Museum's website.

We were able to get three of these vases in last night. They have incredible swelling bellies and take up a lot of space in the kiln. More will be fired next week.

Here is our Moka glaze pots before we stacked up the door. We will be unloading this tomorrow afternoon. It usually takes the gas kiln a solid day and a half (with help from us) to cool down enough to unload.

Gloria and Ed will be holding down the fort here at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove.