The Cousins Are Coming To The Mountains!

We are getting ready to send out our announcement for our upcoming mountaintop pottery show up in Bakersville, NC at Kline Pottery! We thought it would be nice to give you a sneak peek of the card.

We're all very excited to host our pottery friends and "cousins in clay", Donna Polseno and Rick Hensley, from Floyd, Virginia here in Bakersville on the 24th and 25th of August. We also look forward to seeing as many of you as possible!

If you would like to receive a postcard announcement email Michael with your mailing address.

David MacDonald - "Cousins in Clay" - Seagrove, NC - June 1 & 2

David MacDonald will be one of our guest clay cousins for this years "Cousins in Clay" at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove, NC. He is an emeritus professor of Syracuse University and makes pottery and lives in Syracuse, New York.  MacDonald received the Excellence in Teaching Award from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) in 2011.

An excerpt from David MacDonald's artist statement.

"The nature of the art experience for me is one of self-discovery and communication. In one sense, it is a very private and personal journey in search of order, reason, reality and beauty. In another sense, it is a very public act in the attempt to express and share, with others, my realizations and discoveries."


He recently had a solo exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, New York.
"For more than four decades, David MacDonald has masterfully created richly patterned utilitarian objects from clay that have come to symbolize tremendous integrity and endurance. Despite the national recognition MacDonald has earned for his superb work, he remains committed to, and most content when he is producing, functional works of art in beautiful forms that will be touched, held, and most importantly used by people who will admire and appreciate their inherent beauty."
— Everson Museum of Art, 2011

We are honored and excited to have David MacDonald come to Seagrove with his pottery for this years  "Cousins in Clay".  

"Cousins in Clay" June 1-2, 2013

Honored Clay Cousins

 David MacDonald 

Jack Troy

at Bulldog Pottery 

3306 US Hwy 220, Seagrove, NC 27341

June 1&2, Saturday 10-5 and Sunday 10-4

hosted by Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke

 with Michael Kline from Bakersville, NC

Cousins in Clay

"Cousins in Clay" - Seagrove, NC

"Cousins in Clay" at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove, NC

"Cousins in Clay"

June 1 -2, 2013

at Bulldog Pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina

Special clay guests

David MacDonald and Jack Troy

Hosted by Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke and Michael Kline

Saturday 10:00 - 5:00

Sunday 10:00- 4:00

On Saturday

 Sips -n- Such and Greek Music

at 3:00pm duo throwing demo by Bruce Gholson and Michael Kline

On Sunday

Potters Potluck @ Noon -- All are Welcome

at 1:30 a few poems by Jack Troy

Join us for this wonderful weekend about All Things Clay

Cousins in Clay

Containment, a Poem by Jack Troy

Jack Troy Cup

Containment by Jack Troy

I have picked up, moved, shaped,

and lightened myself of many tons of clay,

and those tons lifted, moved, and shaped me,

delivering me to this living-space

I wake and move about in,

space perhaps equal to that I have opened and enclosed

in plate, cup, bowl, jug, jar.

I am thankful no one ever

led me to the pit I'd help to make in Earth,

or showed me all the clay at once.

I'm grateful no one ever said, There.

That heap's about a hundred fifty tons.

Go make yourself a life.

And oh, yes, here's a drum of ink.

See what you can do with that.

I wouldn't have known where to begin.

This poem can be found on Jack Troy's website. The poem is from, "Calling the Planet Home" by Jack Troy. You can read more about his book of poems at Jack Troy's website. 

Cousins in Clay

Pottery Show and Sale

Special Guests are David MacDonald and Jack Troy

June 1-2, 2013

Saturday 10-5

Sunday 10-4

at Bulldog Pottery - 3306 US Hwy 220 Alt

Seagrove, NC

hosted by Bruce Gholson, Samantha Henneke, and Michael Kline

On Sat. light buffet, music, demos, poetry, & conversations about all things clay

On Sun.at noon is the Potters Potluck- all are welcomed

David MacDonald

David MacDonald - Platter

David MacDonald is a recently retired ceramics professor from Syracuse University, New York and will be our honored guest Cousin for the "Cousins in Clay" pottery event in Seagrove, North Carolina. 

Excerpt on Syracuse.com Media

"He believes inspiration occurs on a subconscious level. He says many of the patterns on his pieces are an amalgamation from different sources, but he strives for something special with each one.

“I just kind of want my work to look Africanesque, but I try to avoid copying African patterns verbatim.”

His intention is to “capture the essence of them, the structure the patterns are built around. Usually, it’s a grid,” he says. “Sometimes I take a pattern, then reinterpret it.”

Reinterpretation and repetition don’t end there. “An idea will start somewhere, and eventually it will mutate in the process of doing it over and over again."

(June 23, 2011) - from the article "Retired Syracuse University art professor David MacDonald, who had a solo show at Everson, says he backed into career as an artist in clay"

To read this article about David MacDonald in its entirety visit blogsyracuse.com

Cousins in Clay
Pottery Show and Sale

Special Guests are David MacDonald and Jack Troy

June 1-2, 2013

Saturday 10-5

Sunday 10-4

at Bulldog Pottery - 3306 US Hwy 220 Alt

Seagrove, NC

hosted by Bruce Gholson, Samantha Henneke, and Michael Kline

 Sat. light buffet, music, demos, poetry, & conversations about all things clay

Sun. at noon is the Potters Potluck- all are welcomed