Ken Sedberry received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1977. Following that he was a Resident and Instructor at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana. He taught at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., before establishing his home studio in the small mountain community of Loafers Glory, North Carolina. His work is represented in private collections and exhibited in galleries throughout the country.

Sedberry Pottery (http:\\www.sedberrypottery.com)

"I chose, a long time ago, to finish most of my work in the wood burning kiln. This process is more common in Eastern pottery tradition than Western. Unlike firing in a gas or electric kiln, firing in a wood kiln is a twenty-some hour process that demands constant attention. It requires gradually bringing the heat to the approximately 2300 degrees. I love the process of stoking the furnace. There's a connection there. You stay right with it from beginning to end. Wood firing means allowing this process to take some part in the aesthetics of the work. The variables are infinite and one gives in to chance. There are two to three months work in every firing and there are no guarantees. It's continual risk. Wood-fired pots are traditionally earthen-colored subdued, reserved and muted colors which are beautiful. My goal, however, has been to achieve color in wood firing - colors which combine with the conventional wood-firing hues to create surfaces not unlike those found in Nature's wildest fauna, flora and oceans!" - Ken Sedberry

Gertrude Graham Smith, also known as Gay Smith, is a studio potter educated at Harvard, Findhorn, and Penland School. She single fires porcelain ware in a soda kiln near Penland School in western North Carolina where “keeping up with the Jones’s” means making strong innovative work. Gay has been an artist-in-residence at the Archie Bray Foundation in Helena, Montana; a short-term resident at Penland School; and on the faculty/staff of the Findhorn Foundation in Northern Scotland. Her teaching credits include Penland School and the Harvard Ceramics Studio. Her work is represented internationally.

Gertrude Graham Smith Pottery (http:\\www.gertrudegrahamsmith.com/)

"Making pots: the essential elements of life are involved: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. A fired pot is a talisman, surviving for eons; I must make well and with awareness. As in the ancient art of alchemy, the elements combine through the mediation of the potter to create form: new pots. Are these objects philosopher’s stones, dirt transformed to gold? In addition to function and aesthetic pleasure/innovation, I trust that consciously-made pots carry some ineffable ability to inspire, heal, and transform. Embedded in the stone of fired clay are qualities that may be conveyed or enhanced through use or enjoyment. A hand grasps a handle; compassion arises in the heart. I trust that beauty and life will be brought into the lives of those who use my pots." - Gay Smith

Mark graduated with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Tennessee in 1997. When he is not busy in his studio, he participates in craft fairs and teaches workshops across the country.

Mark Peters Pottery (http://www.mudfire.com/mark-peters.htm)

"I make wheel-thrown, wood-fired functional pottery. Each piece is made by hand; a lot of my work is altered or assembled off the wheel. My work is a collaboration between my talent, the clay, and the fire. I work with the clay’s inherent qualities to make objects that are complimented through the wood firing. Processes in nature such as wind, gravity, and erosion inspire my work. Each pot is organic and loose in form while bold and defined in structure". - Mark Peters

Terry has received international awards and recognition for his pottery. He was invited to live and work in a teapot factory in the People's Republic of China, collaborating with a master Chinese potter in the development of new teapots. He was also a guest at an international ceramic exhibition and symposium held in the small craft village of Fiskars, Finland, which coincided with a lecture at the Estonian Academy of Art in Tallinn, Estonia. The North Carolina Arts Council awarded Terry a ten week residency at Chateau de La Napoule, an international artists’ foundation housed in a magnificent castle on the Mediterranean shore of the French Riviera.

Terry Gess Pottery (http://www.terrygesspottery.com/)

"All of the best pottery throughout history has possessed spirit. Manifested by nuances of gesture, substance, presence and intimacy, this quality is the least cognitive, most fleeting aspect of any ceramic work, an ethereal presence that I cannot adequately calibrate. The presence of spirit is a touchstone, an indicator of the pot’s value or significance. A pot that is infused with spirit offers a particular utility to the viewer or user.

My overriding intent is to create objects of beauty that promote transcendence, that possess the ability to move the viewer or user beyond the limits of empirical experience and knowledge. Transcendence is distinctively ephemeral, but it is based solidly in the common moment, the common object. It is grounded in everyday activity.

A woman who purchased a set of my vases for her home once told me that they greet her from a place of honor on her kitchen table every morning. This repeated experience has become a daily ritual. On a visual level, my vases provide her with an emotionally transcendent level of utility". - Terry Gess

Suze Lindsay and Kent Mclaughlin own and operate Fork Mountain Pottery in the mountains of western NC. The couple settled there after a long relationship with nearby Penland School of Crafts where they have been students, employees, studio assistants and teachers. Their studio represents two distinctive styles, each potter approaching and intrepreting their ideas about utilitarian wares.

Kent works primarily in porcelain, making pots for daily living and experimenting with traditional Eastern glazes which include carbon-trap shinos and celadons. Suze's stoneware pots sublty suggest human form and character as she manipulates her forms by altering them after they are thrown. An integral part of her work includes using surface decoration to enhance form by patterning and painting slips and glazes for firing in the salt kiln.

They share a passion for working with their hands, and for making pots for everyday use that are well crafted and a pleasure to use. That use can range from a mug for your first cup of coffee in the morning to lighting the candelabra for an intimate dinner.

Suze Lindsay & Kent McLaughlin (http://forkmountainpottery.net/index.html)

"Pots are like people. Their form is described by some of the same defintions--lips, feet, and shoulders, and their character and personality can be expressed by being open, warm, generous, rotund, sensuous, loose or jolly. My use of the vessel/female metaphor lies in the subtle suggestion of figure in form. Vases have soft female curves and decorations that imply clothing. Many of my forms are raised on a pedestal like foot that serves as a "skirt". My method of stacking various volumes allows me to play with human proportions and relationships. Altering a pot out of the round creates contrasting angles that suggest hips and waists. The use of line and pattern accentuates the mood or nature of the pot, and can prompt it's use for specific occassions. The techniques I use when making my pots allows me to create each one with a personality of its own." - Suze Lindsay

"I make pots because I love the process and limitless possibilities involved when working with clay. I am attracted to the idea that mankind made pottery before the written word. Pottery was an essential and fundamental part of early civilization. Yet today pots fulfill a different requirement in modern life by carrying a message of life. I have made this object with my hands with the intentions of you using it with your hands. Your touch embracing my touch. The direct connection between maker and user. This is an essential and fundamental consideration I enjoy when I work." - Kent McLaughlin

"We surround ourselves with things we find beautiful. We can’t help it! Interacting daily with these objects, we develop and grow. The good art remains compelling as our lives unfold...its essence full and complete, yet mysterious and provocative. Nourished, we become a part of art, and it a part of us." - Douglass Rankin and Will Ruggles

Douglas Rankin & Will Ruggles (http://www.rockcreekpottery.com/)

Exhibitions in 2003 (Since 1993):

“ Container-Content: A Survey of American Studio Art” The Fuller Museum of Art, Brockton, MA
“ American Pottery Festival” Northern Clay Center, Minneapolis, MN
“ Influences, Interpretations, and Traditions from Asian Ceramics” White Lotus Gallery, Eugene, OR
“ Pots in the Kitchen,” BC Potters Guild, Vancouver, Canada
“ Pots in the Kitchen,” Rufford Craft Centre, Nottinghamshire, England
“ Women in Clay, Pots for Daily Use” Odyssey Gallery, Asheville, NC
“ Potters of the Bakersville Area” Center for Crafts, Creativity and Design, Hendersonville, NC
“ Potters of the Roan” The Seen Gallery, Decator, GA
“ Folk Pottery of North Carolina”, Craft Alliance, St Louis, MO
“ Potters of the Roan” Arrowmont Gallery, Gatlinburg, TN
“ 21st Century Ceramics,” Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus College off Art & Design, Columbus, OH

Penland Gallery (http://penland.org/gallery/)

The Penland Gallery--featuring work by artists affiliated Penland School of Crafts--is a stop worth adding to your trip through Western North Carolina. It is the perfect place to choose a gift, add to your craft collection, or learn about contemporary craft. You can also visit the dozens of working studios in the area and the school's resident artist studios.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, you can join a tour of the campus (reservations required). The gallery presents functional and sculptural work in books, clay, drawing, glass, iron, metals, painting, papermaking, photography, printmaking, textiles, and wood. In addition to the sales area, the gallery has an ongoing series of invitational shows.

Crimson Laurel Gallery (http://www.crimsonlaurelgallery.com/)

Crimson Laurel Gallery is located in Bakersville, North Carolina, a short drive from Asheville, North Carolina and just minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Tennessee by way of Roan Mountain. Crimson Laurel Gallery features some of the finest arts and crafts to be found anywhere in the Appalachians with unique artwork from select artists throughout the United States. Include Crimson Laurel Gallery in your travel plans through western North Carolina. They are just minutes from Boone, Blowing Rock, Spruce Pine, Burnsville, North Carolina, and Johnson City, Tennessee.

HighWater Clays (http://www.highwaterclays.com/)

Welcome to Highwater Clays, manufacturer of high-quality clays and distributor of fine ceramic supplies and equipment. While they have a new store located in St. Petersburg, Florida, you're encouraged to visit their Asheville location in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina where you'll find some of the best ceramic studios in the world. As you browse the HighWater online catalog, please keep in mind they carry more products than listed on the Web, their print catalog having a complete listing of all the fine products. Just click on the link above or to the left, and request their full-line catalog.

McWhirter Pottery is owned and operated by second generation potters, Pete & Kim McWhirter of Burnsville, North Carolina.

McWhirter Pottery (http://www.facebook.com/pages/McWhirter-Pottery/115923181818698?sk=photos#!/pages/McWhirter-Pottery/115923181818698?sk=wall)

McWhirter Pottery was established in 1963. Pete & Kim McWhirter continue the beautiful designs, glazes, and decorating techniques developed by Pete's parents, Kore & Jim McWhirter.

"We are constantly amazed by the number of people that recognize and remember McWhirter Potter from their childhood visits to the shop or craft shows. As they share with us their stories of how they discovered McWhirter Pottery, and meeting his parents, and how visits these to the shop in Celo, NC became a tradition for their families. We are constantly reminded of how important it is to carry on the heritage of creating beautiful, playful, functional, and decorative works of art to be enjoyed for generations to come."