Big Bad Wolf. Stacy Lambert, artist
American Folk Art and Framing (AFA) presents the tenth celebration of its highly anticipated Face Jug Show, previewing online at the gallery website at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, April 5. Online sales begin at noon. The show opens in the gallery Thursday, April 7, and runs through Thursday, April 21.
“The face jug has become an eagerly sought after and widely collected part of our pottery and mountain heritage,” says gallery owner Betsey-Rose Weiss. “American Folk Art collects a wide selection of these jugs made by select potters who use their own knowledge and creativity to explore and expand upon the beloved and creative face jug concept.”
In the southern Appalachian Mountains, face jugs date back to the early 1800s. The addition of snakes and other frightening design elements was a way to keep children at bay since many of the jugs were used to hold moonshine. “At that time, self-sufficiency ruled,” says Weiss, “so handmade, locally made clayware was common.” Today, as they did then, regional soils contain all of the elements needed to make hardy clay and forests have plenty of wood for the fueling of kilns. Many of the potters represented in the Annual Face Jug Show still dig and create their own clays and fire their work in wood-fired kilns. “While these techniques are labor-intensive, the passionate pursuit by these skilled craftspeople is evident in the pottery created,” Weiss says.
Green Man. Joel Huntley, artist
New to the show this year is Wisconsin potter Joel Huntley who studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and in England and has worked in clay for more than 40 years. In the late 1980s, Huntley began to create face jugs. “I read and studied everything about face jugs and have made hundreds,” he says. “Their hold on my attention surprises even me.” He seeks to endow his creations with his own emotions as well as expressions of shared humanity, never going for “cute.” The jugs evolve as he creates, without a plan for a particular countenance or attitude. “People are naturally drawn to images of themselves, of humans,” Huntley says. “The soulfulness of my face jugs makes this connection appealing. My work is a joy, a celebration, an examination and a big responsibility that I take very seriously.”
American Folk Art & Framing is located at 64 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. For more information, visit AmeriFolk.com or call 828.281.2134.
