Joy Tanner, artist
The Spruce Pine Potters Market will return for its 18th year on Saturday, October 11, and Sunday, October 12, at the Cross Street Building in Spruce Pine. Twenty- eight potters from Mitchell and Yancey counties will participate in the free event, offering visitors the chance to engage with nationally and internationally acclaimed artists.
Gertrude Graham Smith, artist
Galen Sedberry, who finishes his pots by firing them in a wood burning kiln, will be present at the market. “Firing in a wood kiln is a deeply satisfying experience and gives the kiln a chance to play a role in the finished surface,” he says. He will join his fellow members with new functional and sculptural work, and he looks forward to reconnecting. “This is by far my favorite event of the year,” Sedberry says. “I get to commune with my fellow organizers and friends and I get to see what everyone has been working on in their studios. In my opinion, this is one of the premier pottery shows in the country and I’m so honored to be a part of it.”
Porcelain artist Gertrude Graham Smith will be bringing her newest works, from small cups to elaborate candelabra, to the market. “I love working with porcelain clay,” she says. “Its softness and responsiveness to touch and color are beyond compare. The larger pieces I make, like candelabra, require weeks of extreme attentiveness in the making and firing processes. I’ve heard potters say, ‘porcelain is unforgiving,’ meaning it has to be treated with respect, knowledge and devotion in order to create anything of consequence.”
Michael Rutkowsky, artist
Michael Rutkowsky will bring his reduction high-fired stoneware to the market. “My 40-plus years of pottery-making have matured into a style that lends itself to a more intuitive approach uniquely my own,” Rutkowsky says. “What separates this work from other potters is a signature style of slip and glaze trailing using smooth, unselfconscious movements, bearing designs that are unique to me. The pottery is lightweight yet durable, and my forms are balanced and artful. Each piece is one of a kind.”
Joy Tanner of Wood Song Pottery in Bakersville will fire her kiln a week before the market, so all of her soda fired functional stoneware pottery will be brand new. “One of my favorite new items I am making is sectioned serving trays,” she says. “Some are long and rectangular, square, or asymmetrical in form. They are quite detailed to create, which keeps me engaged and interested during my creative process.”
Galen Sedberry, artist
Tanner adds that this year’s market carries a special significance. “Last year the Spruce Pine Potters Market was canceled due to Hurricane Helene that occurred a week before our planned event and devastated our community,” Tanner says. “This annual potters market is planned and operated by the potters themselves who are in the show; we have known each other and worked in this region for years and it is always such a treat to get together and show our best work at this beautiful event. I feel that this year especially will feel special for us to come back together again after what our community has been through.”
Every year the Spruce Pine Potters Market raises money for local organizations, and this year the potters are raffling handmade pots from participating artists to raise money for the town of Spruce Pine, which was severely affected by the hurricane.
The Cross Street Building is located at 31 Cross Street #215, Spruce Pine. Learn more at SprucePinePottersMarket.com.
