The first entry

It’s 1:00am, and I just put a sugar pumpkin in the oven to bake. It will take an hour or more, but that’s fine. Tonight is the night I help pre-fire the kiln, going out every half hour or so to ever so slightly turn up the gas burners. It’s bitter cold tonight, so in addition to my long underwear and jeans, I have a fleece blanket wrapped around my legs. I hope I don’t meet up with the newspaper carrier.

Why a blog? Why not. Maybe it will partially answer the question apprentices sometimes get up the nerve to ask me… What do you do? And it will be there when I can’t remember what went on around here, or aren’t around to ask..
Just back in from the 1:30am stoking and the smell of pumpkin is filling the house. The seeds I toasted with a sprinkle of salt are done and they are yummy.

What do you do?
Well, tonight I wrote a press release about the 75th firing that will go out tomorrow. It’s a new angle. This is the first time I’ve plugged the refreshments. These weird economic times call for weird measures…so here goes. “The festivities will include hot cider, cookies and other delectable treats from the Hewitt kitchen.” Hah! Time to get cracking. Last night I whipped out 120 scones, now in tins in the freezer. The pumpkin will evolve into muffins, then soup for the pre-firing crew. I’ve made 60 peanut butter cookies, and a batch of dense chocolate brownies. Luckily Joan will make a few batches of cookies, and I can ask Angelina to make her little spanakopitas. Mark bought new shelves today so we can spruce up the old wobbly shelves in the outer section of the barn. I need to line up Kiln Opening help and make my lists… These and more are the details I will obsess about for the next couple of weeks.

As I type I can hear Squeak’s soft wheezy snore. She has tucked herself into a ball right up next to the heating vent. Wise cat. She doesn’t buy into being nocturnal, like me. Time for one more trip to the kiln.

Here’s that press release. Now you know everything the media knows.

Master Potter, Mark Hewitt, celebrates 25 years in business and the 75th firing of his wood-burning salt kiln
In 1983 British-born potter, Mark Hewitt, found the setting of his dreams - a ram-shackled farm house with enough out-buildings for a workshop, kiln and sales barn. More importantly it was located in Pittsboro, NC, close enough to the clay deposits he needed to make wonderful pots, a good source of wood to fire his soon-to-be built wood-burning kiln, and plenty of potential customers within a few miles. This month Hewitt will fire that same school bus-sized kiln for the 75th time, filled with over 1500 pots made by himself and three apprentices, Joseph Sand, Alex Matisse, and Eryn Prospero. "North Carolinians have a special affinity for pottery made in the same tradition as that of their parents and grandparents", Hewitt reflected as he carried a board of swirl mugs into the partially packed kiln recently. "We have beautiful clays here and plenty of yellow pine to fire the kiln. I mix ashes from my wood stove and ground up glass for my glazes, and fire the kiln for several days to a temperature of 2300 degrees. Unloading the kiln is more exciting than Christmas morning." And his customers seem to agree. Three times a year he opens a kiln load and they eagerly trek to his pottery a few miles east of Pittsboro to see and buy his wares. Hewitt has written extensively in the ceramic press and exhibited in London, New York, and Tokyo, as well as throughout the US, and is well-represented in museum and private collections.

From the enjoyment of its daily use, or as a pottery collector’s investment, Hewitt’s finely-made pottery has an intrinsic value and appeal. For this 75th firing, in addition to the swirl mugs, Hewitt has made several massive vases and planters, pitchers and jars of all sizes, plates and bowls, and even a tall wig-stand! Pots from this firing will be on display at the pottery during the first two weekends in December. The festivities will include hot cider, cookies and other delectable treats from the Hewitt kitchen. The Kiln Opening starts with a preview Friday evening, December 5th from 4-7pm. Refreshments yes, but there are no sales or reservations made until the next day, Saturday December 6th between 9am and 5pm. New pots are put out on the shelves for Sunday, when the sale resumes at noon. For those that can't make the first weekend, the pottery shelves are replenished for a second weekend, December 13th, 9am-5pm and December 14th, noon-5pm. All the pots are stamped with a 75 to commemorate the 75th anniversary firing, along with each maker’s mark. They range in size from a 54" tall fluted vase, to several hundred lovely 5" bud vases, tumblers, and mugs priced well under $10. Twenty-five years later, Hewitt and his wife, Carol, (who teaches and coaches other artists in the business skills needed to be a successful artist) are still delighted to have found Pittsboro, and the run-down old Johnny Burke farm. In her words, "For twenty-five years we have lived and worked here as a team. Mark makes beautiful pots, I handle the bookkeeping and many of the marketing details, and we share in the important business plans and decisions. It's a good life. I couldn't ask for more." In these uncertain times, that's a lot. Customers are also welcome to visit the pottery between kiln openings by appointment. Visits can be scheduled by calling 919-542-2371 or emailing mark@hewittpottery.com. Directions and more at www.hewittpottery.com.