John Dilbeck Musings

DILLSBORO, NC 28725 - The Western North Carolina Pottery Festival hosts its fourth edition in downtown Dillsboro Saturday, November 1, with three dozen master potters demonstrating on the streets of this walkabout mountain village.

Festival hours are 10 am to 4 pm, rain or shine, November 1, 2008.

Admission is $2 per person and includes a ticket for a day-long raffle. Children under 12 are admitted free.

The juried festival spotlights the work of clay artists across the Eastern U.S., including featured potter John Fulwood of New Jersey. Throughout the day, potters share their knowledge through hands-on demonstrations that include raku firing, throwing, wood-firing and horsehair firing. An annual highlight is the opening of the wood-fired coffin kiln at Tree House Pottery.

Organizers are enthused by the appearance of Fulwood, a renowned clay artist from New Jersey’s Kissimmee River Pottery. Fulwood is known for his cone-10 reduction firing technique.

“I depend upon the caress of the flames to influence the color of each piece,” says Fulwood. “These color variations add life to the pots and help make each a one-of-a-kind piece.”

In addition to Fulwood, potters will descend upon Dillsboro from the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Ohio and Illinois.

Local potters include Brandt Barnes of Riverwood Pottery, who has been featured on HGTV, and Travis Berning of Tree House Pottery, who has developed a special technique for implanting leaf designs in clay. Joe Frank McKee, also of Tree House Pottery, will demonstrate all day with alcohol reduction raku firing.

The WNC Pottery Festival has become one of the more popular crafts events in the mountains, with large crowds in each of its first three years.

“There’s getting to be quite an interest in the festival,” says McKee. “Everybody’s talking about it, and we have 11 new potters this year to ensure the event stays fresh. We also have more decorative work coming in. People will be impressed by the attention to detail.”

For festival info, call (828) 631-5100 or visit: www.wncpotteryfestival.com.

For lodging info, call the Jackson County Visitors Center at (800) 962-1911.