Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

March is here and that means a new artist will be featured at Pottery 101, at 101 S. Main St., Salisbury.

For this month, the work of Kait Kelsey of Charlotte will be on display and will be available for purchase, and a reception is planned with refreshments and light snacks provided 

The reception, scheduled for Friday, March 7, from 5-7 p.m. will also give the community a chance to meet Kelsey and she will have the opportunity to meet them as well.

She said that she loves “to meet the people that have the work in their house. I think it’s really nice to meet people in the community, meet the artist” and hear those stories about how they were inspired to do the work they do and that it’s nice to put a name and face together.

Having a different artist featured each month is one of the new ideas that Rachel Gunsch, the shop’s new owner, wanted to implement when she officially took over in December 2024.

Gunsch said in a previous article that her plan is for the artist to bring in all new work, which would be displayed on the entire row of window pedestals. The work would be exhibited for two months after which they would take it with them.

Kelsey will be the second featured artist and said that she and Gunsch teach at Clay Works in Charlotte and was “really honored that Rachel reached out to me,” to come.

Her work is all totally functional thrown pottery including items such as dinnerware and vases and can go into the dishwasher, oven or microwave.

“I don’t make many sculptures so it’s all functional thrown pottery,” she said.

Her Sherwood Forest line of pottery is what Kelsey said she has been working on and will be what she brings to Pottery 101. She said she has been working on this since she and husband William Wright moved to Charlotte five years ago.

“I’ve had a lot of fun with it,” she said, noting that at the show she would be releasing a couple new characters to her Sherwood Forest collection.

Kelsey, who was born in New York, got her first taste of pottery in the seventh grade when her mom signed her up for a class and from then on, she continued with classes and went to college for it as well, earning a bachelor’s degree from college in upstate New York. Her first residency, she said, was in Asheville and has worked in studios in Charleston and now she is in Charlotte.

Her Sherwood Forest collection began, named for the neighborhood they live in, she said, and when friend and neighbor asked if she would create some dinnerware for her after reading how if they had a hand in picking out dinnerware, they would want to help set the table so she asked if could make some dinnerware for them.

Kelsey said that she picked out a fox and a turtle and made the boys a small bowl, plate and kids’ cups and it worked as the boys developed an interest in helping set the table and putting them in the dishwasher.

Other friends learned of her creating these forest character drawings and they wanted some as well and this is how this line came about, she said.

Kelsey said she throws the pottery and all of the drawings as well. 

“I hand draw it on every single pot,” she said.

In her artist statement describing her work, Kelsey said that “the claybody I use is earthenware sourced from the Appalachian mountains. It has a beautiful deep red coloring which forms a strong foundation for the blue stains I use like paint to feed my fascination with the natural etherealness of the creatures I see in my life and mind.”

Kelsey said that when she and her husband first met, he didn’t really collect art, but since they have been together, they travel and collect art and pottery and now better understands the value of it and the stories behind the works that they collect.

When asked about the special featured artists events, Gunsch said that “at Pottery 101, we are excited to see a growing interest in handmade crafts from a younger generation.”

At their last exhibition which featured Brett Beasley they had “a lively crowd, with many younger attendees than usual. This exhibition provided a wonderful opportunity for community members to come together and share their appreciation for craft. We are hopeful that this momentum will continue, drawing more visitors to our monthly featured artist exhibitions.”

She said that one of the goals they have for these events is to “support the talented artists of North Carolina and many guests left our reception with one-of-a-kind works of art by Brett Beasley! We are eager to see how this community grows throughout the year and everyone is welcome in our gallery.”