I had a lovely visit at Jugtown Pottery yesterday and got an amazing tour thru what I consider a real pottery. I always had to apologize to Guild members that came to Pinecroft about the dirt on the floors, the clay covered ware boards, batts, pottery equipment and tools.
What a breath of fresh air for me to visit Jugtown Pottery where the craft of the potter has been practiced for generations where there are broken eggs to make omelettes.
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| Pam, Bayle and Vernon |
At age 78 Vernon Owen still puts in a good day throwing these amazing large candle stick holders.
There is a wonderful museum on site and the kiln yard is the envy of any potter. I lost count of the groundhog wood kilns- I think 5 or 6 with just as many gas fired car kilns. The one large car kiln would take me 3 or 4 months to fill. The clay is dug locally and put thru a large hammer mill, put in a large Bluebird mixer and then pugged in one of two Venco de-airing pug mills.
Jugtown is a family affair with Pam, Vernon and daughter Bayle and son Travis turning pots. Vernon's brother Bobby doing glazing, firing and loading. Bobby and Travis weren't at the pottery the day I was there. That's a lot of family to depend on the sale of pots.
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| A big groundhog. |
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| The Throwing Studio for Vernon and Travis |
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| Now this a real live pottery where more time is spent working than cleaning. |
In the 90's I once heard Vernon speak at The Wood fire Conference in Iowa City, Iowa. He was as humble then as he is today. A tip of the fedora to a hard working pottery family carrying on the tradition of pottery in Seagrove, North Carolina.
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