Hey there! How in the heck is it November already?! Seems like just a week ago I was dusting off the paddleboard to get out on the lake and now here I am contemplating putting it away again for the season. 🤨
You've not heard from me for a while (longer than intended... sorry!) but work and life here at the shop certainly have not been idle! I've got new artists in the gallery, new studio projects underway, a couple of new pottery videos, and I've rolled out a new glaze combination since you last heard from me. But first, the...
Chris Boone is an avid hunter and fisherman who began carving decoys at the age of twelve. Over the years he has developed a primitive-styled wooden sculpture from old world, modern, and life references. Boone uses limb sections from cedar, pine, & various hardwoods to design each decoy sculpture and leaves natural elements such as lichen and moss in place for a naturalistic look.
Sarah Joy began her metalsmithing journey in early 2017. The items she creates are inspired by the natural world and use of space. She loves the alchemical process behind making jewelry. Sarah grew up in the mountains just outside of Asheville, North Carolina.
Local Wild Clay
Back near the beginning of Summer, I was planning out some new pottery videos with a heavy emphasis on the science of clay. Wanting to get the science right, I delved back into some of my clay texts and began to research some of the geology of the area. One thing leads to another and before long I'm tromping through the woods and paddling along shorelines in the search for local clay deposits. And I found lots!
With a few helpful tips, I found clay deposits along the shores of Lake James below the Linville River as well as a kaolin deposit along a creek in Morganton itself! The clays found on Lake James all had a significant amount of iron in them, making them better suited for making terra cotta pots than stoneware pottery, but the deposit of kaolin from Morganton is a purer form of clay that can resist the higher firing temperatures associated with stoneware. All of these clays are have been processed in the studio (mostly to get roots, rocks, and grit out of the clay) and are currently undergoing testing to see what their temperature range and working qualities are.
At about the same time I was finishing up the initial processing of these clay samples, I ran into Kevin Baxter from the new NC School for Science & Math-Morganton campus. He expressed interest in having me make mugs to commemorate the grand opening of the campus in April 2022 (and I'm very grateful for THAT opportunity! ) Since I was beginning to work with wild clay anyway, I suggested that perhaps we could walk the campus and see if any natural clay on the construction site might be suitable for incorporating into the clay from which the new NCSSM-Morganton mugs would be made.
Kevin generously scheduled some time for us to walk the campus (along with a tour of some of the new construction!) and we lucked out! Not only did we find clay, but we found clay that had already separated out from most of the grit! I grabbed several bucket-fulls of red clay and got it back to the studio. The testing of the NCSSM-Morganton clay is still ongoing, but I should be able to mix a fair amount of it into the stoneware clay to get a nice warmly-toned clay color for the NCSSM-Morganton mugs! I made a short video about getting the clay from the campus (below). To keep up with the wild clay projects you can follow my social media accounts or subscribe to my pottery channel on YouTube.
New Glaze, You Say?
Earlier in the year, I worked with a customer to create a custom dinnerware set. In so doing, I worked out a new glaze combination using my Moody Blues glaze paired with an iron-rich Persimmon glaze that I've been using in coordination with my ash glazes for the past few years. After finishing up the order, I played around with the combo more and simplified the arrangement of glazes on the pottery pieces. The result is a nice blending of warm and cool tones with a splash of a flowy red glaze to liven things up! I particularly love the mottled overlap between the reddish-brown Persimmon and the glossier blue. I have a small collection of this combination in the shop now, and it will grow more and more as we approach the end of the year.
Holiday Help Wanted
As we roll into the holiday season, it's clear I'm going to need a little extra help in the shop. I'm looking to hire a Gallery Assistant who is outgoing and keen to chat up folks who visit the shop. It's a pretty easy gig that mainly involves talking to customers, making sales, checking inventory into our system, wrapping gifts, and light cleaning.
If you or someone you know is looking for seasonal employment then please shoot me an email at info@hamiltonwilliams.com. Note: I prefer an email inquiry over a call or in-person visit as I am usually in the middle of a task that is difficult to pull away from.
And Finally... More Videos!
During that week of rain we had a while ago, I got prolific with pottery videos. Here are a few you might have missed!
July 5, 2021~ Art Crawl, Guest Artist, & It's Time for a Party! 😃
*|MC:SUBJECT|**|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
What?! A party, you say?!
Yes, a party!The next Third Thursday Art Crawl in Downtown Morganton takes place on July 15, and I have a very special guest artist joining us for the occasion. And it's been a long while since we've been able to hold an event at the shop (what with the pandemic and all) so I have quietly polled a variety of people around town to gauge their comfort level at attending an event in the gallery. The consensus has been that folks who are vaccinated feel pretty comfortable getting out and mingling with others. So... it seems a good occasion to have a big 'ol party with food, wine, and live music like we did pre-pandemic!
The art crawl begins at 5pm and our festivities will begin at 5:30. Live music by singer/song-writer Todd Greene will begin around 6, and we'll wind the whole thing down around 7 or 7:30pm. I hope you will join us!
Our guest artist, Amy Brooks
*not to be mistaken for Amy Brooks, the oral surgeon in Downtown Morganton
A few months ago, a couple and their daughter wandered into the gallery while they were visiting Morganton from their home in Metuchen, NJ. I welcomed them to the shop and to Morganton in general and soon learned that Amy is an accomplished stained glass artist. We had a lovely conversation that afternoon and when I learned that Amy and Scott were considering making a move to Western North Carolina and that Morganton was one of several towns they planned to visit, I began extolling the virtues of our little community. I talked about the growing number of amenities popping up in Downtown and the new western campus of the NC School for Science & Math in development. I pointed out the fascinating history of the area, including Spanish explorers and Joara. I talked about the lake, the trails, the Linville Gorge, and all the fun outdoor stuff that Burke County has to offer. And I talked about how close knit a community Morganton, especially Downtown Morganton, has been through the years. (OK, maybe sometimes I can talk a little too much about how special this place is...🙄)
Anyway... not long after (a few weeks!), Amy reached out to let me know that she and Scott not only loved their trip to Morganton but were already negotiating the purchase of a building in Downtown Morganton to become their home and Amy's new glass studio! Needless to say, I was thrilled that Morganton would have yet another artist and studio to offer visitors and residents.
Amy has been working with glass for nearly 20 years, and discovered her medium by taking a class at a local shop in New Jersey. From there, she began exploring all of the amazing things that glass can do. She now specializes in creating custom glass and metal art pieces for customers across the nation and enjoys working with clients throughout the design process to help develop their visions and bring them to life. Morganton is fortunate to receive such an accomplished artisan!
But why promote a potential competitor? 🤨
A customer floated this question one day when I talked about having a party for Amy and Scott and introducing them to the Morganton arts community (and a bunch of my customers). While it's true that other shops and studios in Morganton do compete with my gallery for local dollars in the art, decor, and gift markets (and while it's also true that I'll have the occasional pang of anxiety about that fact!), I generally see businesses like mine as part of a community of local merchants that work together to make Morganton more and more attractive to newcomers and visitors.
The more diverse and creative Morganton becomes, the more enticing it is to folks in other areas and the more pleasant and exciting it is for locals. Downtown Morganton has long been a close community where people from all walks of life comfortably mix and visit, and that is a quality that I value about Morganton and don't want to lose.
It wasn't all that very long ago when Morganton was still a pretty quiet place that Catawba Brewing was one of the only places to go hang out and see people. Because it was just about the only spot in town, everyone who wanted to be out on a weekend night went there. As a result, people who might not regularly hang out together in daily life got to know each other over time quite well. Those relationships have endured even though there are now numerous places to get a drink and linger. And I believe that is one of the reasons that Morganton remains so welcoming to people who visit... we're just used to talking and cutting up with whoever walks in.
I've experienced businesses that remain firmly grounded in a purely competitive mindset, and I've seen how that stance can sour the community around them. I've never wanted to put out that kind of vibe and prefer something more along the lines of 'cooperative competition' model that you often see in craft communities. So when new people come into the shop and want to know where else they should stop in, I have no problem sending them on up to Adam and Molly's (West Union Art Studios), Susan's (OSuzannah's), and Lynn and Dean's (Oak Hill Iron). And I'll have no problem sending them to see Amy at Paradise Custom Stained Glass!
May 7, 2021~ New Beginnings & Mother’s Day 🌹
*|MC:SUBJECT|**|MC_PREVIEW_TEXT|*
Let's start again, shall we?
(this is a little long so if you want to skip down to Mother's Day stuff, click here.)
Through all the years I've been a working artist, the one thing I've never quite gotten comfortable with is sending out newsletter and marketing emails. I understand that as a small business owner marketing is part and parcel of building a business, but... I'm a pretty big introvert who's much more comfortable talking to one person at the edge of a party than standing in the middle of it all. As a result, I always put off creating an email newsletter- telling myself I don't have time and, gee, aren't people tired of seeing pictures of pottery yet? And I personally hate being bombarded with emails from businesses on a daily basis so I really don't want to be that business. But really, I just don't like asking people to buy things. If people like the work, then they'll come in to check it out and possibly purchase a piece, right? I tend to overlook the part where I actually have to give people a chance to see what's new in the gallery or coming out of the studio. 🙄
Through the last year, though, I've noticed more and more that folks like seeing how the work is made and the creative thought that goes into producing the work as much as they like seeing the finished pieces. So from here on out, I'm going to focus these newsletters on the pottery process as much, if not more than, the finished pottery. With that in mind, these emails will start coming out a little more consistently because I can geek out on pottery pretty much any day of the week.
With that said, let me catch you up on what's been going on here...
But first, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to all of the folks here in Morganton and all across the region (and country!) who supported the shop through last year's events. People, even people with only the most fleeting association with the shop, went out of their way to buy work or gift certificates throughout the year. Between the Giving Platters effort, sales, and occasionally an outright donation, the shop survived a difficult year. Sometimes it was a scramble to manage things and get all of the necessities done, but the year was not without it's great moments, such as this email I received (and meant to share with you all at the time) from one of the recipients of the Giving Platters effort:
I am sorry to say we haven't met. I have only lived in this town for about a year as I relocated from Raleigh for a job (That I was unfortunately laid-off from).
I wanted to reach out and personally say THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I signed up for the Burke Co. Virtual Tip Jar and almost forgot about it. Until your email came in last night and I got another email from PayPal saying you have money! Reading your email and feeling the emotions you portrayed was a breath of fresh air. Really! It makes me feel so good about this town and people like you who want us to all make it that keep reinforcing my decision to move here was the right thing to do.
Indeed! Morganton is a stand-out community! And that note is as much to you who supported the Giving Platters effort and shop, as much as it is to me. Thank you!
So now the updates...
Pottery Videos! Late last year, I began wanting to make more comprehensive videos illustrating the pottery process. To that end, I applied for and received an artist support grant through a program funded by state and local arts agencies* late last year. I've made little pottery videos through the years and became more interested in the potential of video to give insight to the finer points of clay and pottery. I've spent the first portion of this year gearing up and working on my video skill sets, but I will soon begin documenting pottery work and posting segments on social media and here.
If you are interested in learning about clay and pottery, then certainly start following my YouTube channel. I'll be working with different styles of video for different aspects of the pottery process, but you can see an early attempt above. I promise they won't all be as long as this one.
*Artist Support Grant Recipient and that the program is funded by the North Carolina Arts Council, the United Arts Council of Catawba County, the Caldwell Arts Council, the Hiddenite Center of Alexander County, the Rock School Art Foundation in Burke County, the Burke Arts Council, the Iredell County Arts Council and the McDowell Arts Council Association.
New Website! If last year taught me anything, then it was how important a well-functioning website is to my small local business! I have always intended to build out my website, but the gallery has always been successful enough that I kept putting off making updates and listing pots to the site I had. But with a new year came a new need to streamline our online presence with simplicity and functionality as my focus. The new site launched last week with just a handful of items in the online shop, but expect to see my offerings increase steadily over time.
New Logo! With all of the other updates, it seemed high time to take a fresh look at my online business identity. I've always wanted to come up with a potter's mark* that made stylish use of my initials, but an 'H' and a 'W' don't exactly fit together that well. I've played around with configurations for decades, but never came up with anything that worked. So I call on Eliot Lytle at Mesh Design Group and ask if he can help. We worked together over the phone and hammered out the family of logos you see here. I'm pretty thrilled with Eliot's work and highly recommend working with him if you have a need for strong brand identity.
*a potter's mark is a small stamp that a clay artist can use in lieu of a hand-written signature.
Mother's Day
The shop is full of great stuff for mom! Fantastic jewelry, pottery, great greeting cards, soaps and lotions. There's just... a lot!
It's not too late to stop in on Saturday to grab a last minute gift for Mom.
Chris Boone is an avid hunter and fisherman who began carving decoys at the age of twelve. Over the years he has developed a primitive-styled wooden sculpture from old world, modern, and life references. Boone uses limb sections from cedar, pine, & various hardwoods to design each decoy sculpture and leaves natural elements such as lichen and moss in place for a naturalistic look.
Sarah Joy began her metalsmithing journey in early 2017. The items she creates are inspired by the natural world and use of space. She loves the alchemical process behind making jewelry. Sarah grew up in the mountains just outside of Asheville, North Carolina.
Earlier in the year, I worked with a customer to create a custom dinnerware set. In so doing, I worked out a new glaze combination using my Moody Blues glaze paired with an iron-rich Persimmon glaze that I've been using in coordination with my ash glazes for the past few years. After finishing up the order, I played around with the combo more and simplified the arrangement of glazes on the pottery pieces. The result is a nice blending of warm and cool tones with a splash of a flowy red glaze to liven things up! I particularly love the mottled overlap between the reddish-brown Persimmon and the glossier blue. I have a small collection of this combination in the shop now, and it will grow more and more as we approach the end of the year.
