The Mountains: Dispatch From Bakersville!

It's 64 degrees here in the Blue Ridge today! A welcome rain has cooled everything down and the gardens are bursting! I [cousin Michael, here] have been working towards a new collection of pots for my wood kiln and the summer couldn't be finer.

Our little field of corn, potatoes, beans, and melons is a pleasure to walk through every day with its fragrant tassels and searching vines. After a nice rain, it's a must to take my boots off and walk on the red clay in bare feet.


Soft clay, imprints, a trail.

A lot of this red clay finds itself to my shop where I turn it into something with a different use. It's no wonder that pottery thrives in NC to this day, from the earliest transformations of the stuff by Native Americans to the Cousins in Clay!

view from the Mountains Cousins in Clay in Bakersville (on a sunny day!)

"COUSINS IN CLAY"

Memorial Day Weekend

May 28 Saturday 9-4

May 29 Sunday 10-4

Michael Kline's Brushwork Demonstration

Saturday 2:00-3:00

Sunday 1:30-2:30

(This is from our (Bulldog Pottery's) e-mail that we sent out today)

Jack Troy just returned from Australia as a presenter on a panel at the Australian Wood-firing Conference. He is a renowned potter from Pennsylvania, ceramics author, teacher, and poet. Creative energy is clearly unlimited for Pennsylvanian potter Jack Troy, who weaves his productive life around his passion for ceramics. He has taught over 185 workshops, written 2 books about clay, a book of original poems, published over 60 articles and book reviews, and won awards, all while producing a constant stream of pottery in his Pennsylvania studio.

Peter Lenzo from Columbia, SC reexamines the southern pottery face jug tradition, by creating his autobiographical head sculptures. We think you will enjoy these incredibly intricate and quirky sculptural interpretations of this Southern regional art form.

Michael Kline from Bakersville, NC is known for his floral brush imagery that gracefully wraps around his wood-fired pottery forms. Michael is our perennial co-conspirator with Gholson-Henneke's annual Cousins in Clay event. Sometimes his pots are covered with a honey amber color glaze that is as appetizing as maple syrup. Look for a Mountain Cousins event in the near future.

Bruce Gholson and Samantha Henneke have created a collaborative environment at their Bulldog Pottery studio that provides them the support to express their independent voices, more than they would be able to achieve individually. Their art pottery has become known for an eclectic mix of form, imagery, texture, pattern, and graceful design all integrated by their rich and distinctive glazes

Michael Kline demonstrating at Cousins in Clay 2011

For the upcoming Cousins in Clay on Memorial Day weekend, 2011, Michael Kline will demonstrate his brushwork technique on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday he will begin at 2:00pm and on Sunday at 1:30pm. This brushwork demo will last around 45 minutes. Michael has a you tube station where you can watch some of his techniques.

Michael's You Tube Station

Michael just unloaded a wood kiln, and will be having his kiln opening this weekend at his homeplace in the mountains. Check out his fabulous pottery at his famed "Sawdust and Dirt" blog.

Michael also has a "working potter" two page feature in this months [June, July, August issue] Ceramics Monthly Magazine. Check it out!

Michael Kline Painting Pottery, Pt 1