The Potters
Vernon Owens
Vernon grew up working in Dad's shop, absorbing shapes from his father, M.L. Owens and his uncle Walter Owen, who worked at North State Pottery in Sanford. In the late 1950's, at the age of fifteen, he went to work also for C.C. Cole making as many as 200 small pieces a day. The economy was in hard times and a good product that sold was something to be proud of. While Vernon worked hard to make good pots, he did not think of himself as an artist.
In 1960, John Mare, the new owner of Jugtown Pottery, hired Vernon as the Jugtown thrower. Here, Vernon was encouraged to hone the skills he had developed as a youngster. At first he dutifully copied the forms of early Jugtown pieces but that became a frustration and he began to let the old pots be an inspiration to develop his own forms. After Mare's sudden death in 1962, Owens leased the pottery and kept it going until 1968 when it was sold to Country Roads, Inc.
Vernon continued at Jugtown Pottery through the ownership of Country Roads, Inc., a nonprofit corporation whose mission was the preservation of hand crafts. He worked closely with the director, Nancy Sweezy, learning glazing and business techniques. In 1983 Country Roads, Inc. moved on to another project and Vernon bought the pottery. He married potter Pam Lorette that same year. While Vernon sells the majority of his pots at Jugtown, they can occasionally be seen at gallery shows and in museums. The main influences in Vernon's pots come from the Moore County, NC pottery tradition, (the utilitarian wares such as jugs, pitchers and churns made in the 18 and 19th centuries), and the art pottery era which began around 1917, from which classical vases and bowls from Korea, China and Japan became the inspiration. Vernon received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award from the NC Arts Council in 1994. In 1996 he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Vernon received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University in December of 2000. He was also part of the Carolina Preserves project with artist William Mangum in 2000.
Pamela Lorette Owens
A love of traditional pottery initiated Pam Owens pottery career twenty-five years ago. Her first pottery teacher Isobel Karl, who attended Alfred College during what she called, "the golden years", strongly influenced Owens decision to study pottery by apprenticeship. Seven years of pottery apprenticeship, the traditional method of pottery study, began with two years at High Mowing, a small Waldorf School in New Hampshire. After studying in a school environment and a three week study at Wolff Pottery in Connecticut, Jugtown Pottery was her first working pottery experience. There she learned throwing skills through pratice and watching Vernon Owens, a very skilled potter at work. The apprentices also worked in the glaze room and the sales cabin.
Returning to N.H. to attend UNH, Owens found work throwing early American reproduction ware and loading kilns as part of the employment/apprentice process. In 1979 she apprenticed at the Chesire pottery in N.H. and returned to Jugtown in 1980. In 1983 she and Vernon were married and have worked together since.
Owens states, "How I landed at Jugtown and this wonderful state that so appreciates clay, still mystifies me, but I am honored to be part of the tradition and do my best to keep it alive, evolving and yet connected to its history. The forms at Jugtown are always subtly changing. We work from the tradition but are not strictly bound by it."
Pam served as a North Carolina Pottery Board Member from from 1999-2002. She served as a juror for the 2004 Artsplosure Fine Art Festival in Raleigh NC which will be on May 2004. Pam's work can be seen in the following publications The Potter's Eyeby Nancy Sweezy and Mark Hewitt, 500 Animals in clay, a Lark Ceramic Book and The Remarkable Potters of Seagrove by Charlotte Brown
Travis Owens
Born in 1985, son of Vernon and Pam Owens, Travis began making pots at age 2. He is known for making traditional wares like those of his great grandparents, J.H. and Martha Scott Owen as well as early Jugtown shapes, chickens and pigs. Travis has led workshops at the North Carolina Museum of History and the McKissick Museum, and demonstrated at the Novella Festival through the Mint Museum, as well as at private schools. He has exhibited at Jugtown, the Catawba Valley Pottery Festival, The Mary Hambidge Center and the North Carolina Museum of History. Articles and videos include: " US Kids" in 1990; North Carolina Social Studies, Grade 4, "The Life of a Young Potter", 1995 and Southern Living 2004.
Travis has a Bachelor of Art and Design from the College of Art and Design at NCSU. He is a full time Jugtown Potter.
Bayle Owens
Born in 1990, daughter of Vernon and Pam, Bayle began making pots at age 2. She completed her first dinner set in 2000. She demonstrated at the Novella Festival through the Mint Museum in the late 1990's and appeared in an article in "Kids Guideposts" in 1995. Bayle is featured on the http://www.handsoncrafts.org web site developed by The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, The Mint Museum of Art and Mint Museum of Craft + Design and The Institute of Museum and Library Services. Bayle is currently studying art at Warren Wilson College. She works in the shop on her college breaks and makes functional pieces and clay animals for the shop.
Bobby Owens unloading kiln 2006
Born in 1939, Bobby is the son of M.L. Owens. He grew up helping with loading kilns and cutting wood for firing kilns for his father. He was hired by John Mare in 1960 to glaze, load and fire kilns at Jugtown Pottery. His love of the process of clay and glazes kept him busy at Jugtown. He continues to work mixing clay and managing the glazing and firing of the cone 6 gas kiln.
Charles Moore
Born in 1935, Charles came to work at Jugtown for Juliana Busbee in the 1950's. He helped stack kilns , did odd jobs and made his first chickens during this time. He was a long time Jugtown worker and figural maker. Along with loading kilns and clay mixing, Charles made many wonderful animals. He lead a workshop to build the first groundhog kiln at the North Carolina Pottery Center. Charles retired from Jugtown and built a groundhog kiln at his own workshop circa 2000, where he made and fired orange earthenware figurals. Charles passed away on January 9, 2007 from a heart attack. He is missed by this community where he was known as a folk potter and also a friend and willing helper to anyone in need.
- Jennie Lorette Keatts
- Resident Jeweler working in Metals and Clay
Turning Mud into Gemstones.......handmade pottery stones and beads created at Jugtown Pottery by Jennie Lorette Keatts. Stones are made by layering glazes to create depth and beauty and then set in sterling silver, sometimes paired with gold or copper. Each piece is one of a kind. Pottery beads are strung with semi-precious stones, silver and vintage glass and handmade silver or pottery pendants adorn the end. For more information on Jennie, go to http://www.jlkjewelry.com/
Jugtown Exhibits, Lectures, Workshops and Publications
Wood Fired Jugtown, with photographs by Diane Fuller, Campbell House Gallery Southern Pines, N.C 1990
Jugtown Pottery and Photographs by Diane Fuller, Community Council for Arts Kinston, N.C. 1990
Teapots Appalachina, Arlington, VA, Pam Owens 1990
Tea for Two, Anana Gallery, Birmingham, Pam Owens 1990
Jugtown East and West, Jugtown photos by Diane Fuller, Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, N.C., 1991
Wood Fired Jugtown, Peppertree Studios, Cedar Rapids, IA, 1991
Traditions Handed Down, Galer'ia Biegas Detroit, MI, Jugtown Area Show 1992
Jugtown Area Show, Hambidge Center, Rabun Gap,GA, every year 1992-2000
NC Clay, NCSU Raleigh, NC, 1992
Jugtown Pottery Affinities, 1992, Salem College Fine Arts Center, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Host of Onggi Workshop with Mr. Pai of Korea, Jugtown Pottery 1992
Functional Ceramics, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, OH 1993
New Ways for Old Jugs, A Jugtown Exhibit and Book, McKissick Museum, USC Columbia, SC 1994
Museum Magic panel discussion and demonstration, N.C. Museum of History 1995
Very Special Arts Workshop, Moore County Schools, N.C. 1996, 1997, 1998, Pam Owens
Cedar Creek National Teapot Show, Creedmoor, N.C. 1994, 1996 Teapot by Pam Owens purchased by Museum 1996
Hot Tea, Blue Spiral Gallery, Asheville, N.C. 1997
Lecture for the NC pottery Collectors Guild by Vernon Owens, The John Mare Era, Jugtown Pottery, Seagrove, NC 1996
Thirty Years Thirty Potters, A Celebration of Excellence, Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, N.C. 1998
Article, Adapted Groundhog Kiln, Studio Potter by Vernon and Pam Owens 1994
Strictly Functional, Purchase award to Vernon Owens, 1998
Workshop presenters Fuctional Ceramics, 3 day workshop, Wooster Ohio, April 1999
Lecture for the NC Pottery Collecters Guild, by Pam Owens, Jugtown Glaze Development, Raleigh, NC February 2000,
Works from the NC Tradition, Odyssey Gallery, Asheville 2000
Milestones, Moring Gallery, Asheboro, NC, 2000
Carolina Preserves, An artist's perspective of NC personalities, September 2000
Folkways with David Holt (PBS Documentary), 2000
Vernon Owens receives Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University 2000
Wood fire exhibition November 2000- January 2001 Folk Art Center, Asheville, NC, Vernon and Pam
Wood Fire Exhibition February-March 2001 Ohio Musem of Crafts, Vernon and Pam
Celebrating the Mug June-July 2001 Cedar Creek Gallery, Creedmoor, NC, Vernon and Pam
Jugtown Show (the Bluethenthal Collection) Opening at the Greensboro Historical Museum December 2002. More info coming!
Jugtown Pottery Show Campbell House Gallery June 2003
21st. Century Ceramics Columbus, Ohio October-December 2003
Jugtown Pottery was featured on the Antiques Road Show late Fall 2003
Pam Owens/Jennie L Keatts, Sisters Show, Randolph Arts Guild July 2005
The Potters Eye, Works of Six NC Potters whose work comes from a tradition, NC Museum Art, Raleigh 2005-2006
Vernon and Pam Owens Potters at Jugtown, Gregg Museum, March- July 2008
The Owens Family, North Carolina Pottery Center February-April 2009
Craft in America, a PBS series featuring a segment on Jugtown, airing October 7, 2009, 8-10 PM