News

Gallery displays local pottery

March 2007

Originally published in the Daily Tar Heel Online Exclusives
By Megan Laplaca, Staff Writer
Posted: 3/5/07

ChathamArts Gallery fired things up this weekend with a reception designed to give people a chance to meet local pottery artists.

The reception, which took place Sunday from noon until 5 p.m., was part of Pittsboro's First Sunday activities, when shops, galleries and eateries are open. Every first Sunday of each month, ChathamArts Gallery features a new exhibit, and Sunday marked the opening of the pottery exhibit, which will remain in the gallery through March 24.

ChathamArts Gallery, which functions under the Chatham County Arts Council, features work from local artists.

"You don't come into the ChathamArts Gallery unless you are a Chatham artist," Gallery Manager Judy MacPhail said.

Artists, like Joyce Bryan, have had their work featured at the gallery before, but this month's exhibit is different than previous pottery exhibits.

"This is the first year that it will be as large and as encompassing as it is," MacPhail said. "We've got approximately 16 or 17 local Chatham County potters - some who are new emerging artists and some who are established potters - who will be showing."

Many of the artists own pottery studios in the area.

"It gives them an opportunity to show their work locally," MacPhail said. "People will find someone whose work they like, and they could become a collector."

Bryan, a Chatham County potter, will feature her work at the exhibit. She has owned her shop near Pittsboro, called Stone-Crow Pottery, for about 30 years.

Most of Bryan's pottery is created for the preparation, cooking and serving of food.
"It's all utilitarian - meant to be used on a daily basis and enjoyed," she said.
Her pottery is known for its whimsical and beautiful glazes. She incorporates clay "critters" such as lizards into her pottery, which adds a touch of humor, she said.
Bryan said she makes more than 200 different kinds of pottery - mostly dinnerware - and much of it is custom-ordered.

But the utilitarian aspect of her pottery is an important detail.
"I want people to use it and enjoy it and not just dust it," she said. "I want them to incorporate it into their lives."

Lyn Morrow, owner of Lyn Morrow Pottery just outside of Pittsboro, features another kind of pottery. Morrow makes hand-thrown pots, lamps, bowls and vases with her own innovative methods.

She said traveling has influenced a lot of her pieces.
"I went to Roswell, New Mexico, which is one of the weirdest places I've ever been," she said.

"The more you travel, you pick up little tidbits of things here and there."

Morrow makes a piece she has named the "Roswell incident." She describes it as "like a spaceship has crashed into the top - that's the lid."

"I try to entertain myself and hopefully other people on occasion," she said.

Article originally published at:
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OnlineExclusives/Gallery.Displays.Local.Pottery-2756470.shtml