So when internationally acclaimed North Carolina clay artists Mark Hewitt and Ben Owen III both told me that the relationship people develop with pottery is what gives it lasting beauty, I understood.

“Contemporary Carolina Clay,” an exhibition of Hewitt and Owen’s recent work, will be on view Oct. 1 through Nov. 28 at Waterworks Visual Arts Center. A reception to honor the artists will be held Oct. 8 from 6 to 8 p.m.

“Both Mark Hewitt and Ben Owen III were born into powerful clay dynasties,” says Denny Mecham, executive director of Waterworks. “We are very thankful for the opportunity to show their work here in Salisbury.”

Hewitt’s father and grandfather were directors of the fine china manufacturer Spode, in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Owen III is the grandson and namesake of a pioneer in the NorthCarolina clay tradition.

Both potters’ work is in extremely high demand among international collectors. Three times each year, the potters fire up their wood-kilns to produce the almost 2,000 pieces collectors demand. At Hewitt’s Pittsboro farm and Owen’s Seagrove retail shop, buyers line up before dawn for the chance to buy a new piece. Both have experienced tremendous sales growth but humbly say they’re thankful for the opportunity to “just make pots.”

Mark Hewitt’s Pittsboro studio is located in an old chicken house on his sprawling farm. Huge planters left over from his recent sale hang next to the main door, which is speckled with dried clay.

Inside the rustic structure, the mud floor is mottled with more dried clay. The work surfaces are simple, made by hand from wood. A portable stereo provides background music, the likes of Elvis Costello and Bob Marley, as Hewitt and his apprentices work.

Hewitt, an Englishman, relocated here many years ago after studying in Connecticut for three years.

“Coming South was like coming home for me,” he explains. “This is where pottery is in the hearts of the people and exactly where Ineed to be.”

Hewitt doesn’t have a year-round retail space on the farm so there are few interruptions. His wife, Carol, handles most of the phone calls, leaving him to concentrate on his work. Their black lab, Molly, slumbers the hot day away in a doorway to the rear of the studio.

When we arrived for a studio visit, Hewitt had 16 of 20 large jug bases left to make for an upcoming show.

“I’m happy to talk while Iwork, just don’t mind me if Ifall silent,”he says, casting a studious look at the base he’s working on. “I sometimes get a little lost in my work.”

Indeed, Hewitt spends a great deal of time at the electric wheel where he throws clay while standing. As he works on yet another base, light falls from a small desk lamp on a shelf above, mixing with natural light streaming in from a nearby small window. He puts his thumbs in the center of a thick doughnut of clay and, as if by magic, the sides rise up almost to his elbows. From time to time he dips a sea sponge in a crock full of water and mops the clay base with it. He says he can’t imagine doing any other kind of work.

“At first, I was like the black sheep of the family because I was so rebellious, working with clay when my family was so well established at Spode,” he says. “There I was, making jugs and planters and such that, in hindsight, weren’t very good, when they were in fine china. But now that I’m older, I see that in the big picture, the two fields have everything in common. It’s all a process, really. And I’m thankful to have learned what I did from my father and grandfather. I have the greatest respect for their work.”

Hewitt says he fell in love with utilitarian pottery during college when he read “A Potter’s Book” by Bernard Leach.

“It was a criticism of industrialized ceramics ... in addition to a treatise on the natural beauty of ceramics. And it clicked with me.”

After venturing into the Bristol Museum located next to one of his classroom buildings, Hewitt was mesmerized by the large collection of Oriental pots. “And that was it for me. I’ve been crazy for this ever since.”

Today, some 23 years later, Hewitt’s three annual firings draw hundreds of collectors who snap up the 2,000 or so pieces for sale before the sun sets. When they leave, Hewitt starts the production process over again — throwing clay, creating pots, glazing them and firing everything in the huge wood-fire kiln he built next to his studio. Decorated with swirling stripes and polka dots, it looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book though Hewitt patterned it from a 14th century Thai brick kiln.

Hewitt specializes in the production of very large garden planters, storage jars and bases, ranging from 10 gallons to 30 gallons, along with a full range of tableware. The pieces are often intricately decorated with washes and slips that swag each unique surface with layers of color. He also often uses ash with salt and Southern alkaline glazes to add texture.

Despite his growing success, Hewitt is a humble artist, carefully noting that he still has much to learn. He recently sold an almost waist-high jug with a muted mustard-colored wash decorated with blue glass slips for $5,000, though he’s embarrassed to admit it. With a boyish shrug, he remembers aloud the days when that same jug would have sold for $200.

“But Iguess it’s really about supply and demand,” he continues. “If my pieces fly out of here it makes no sense to keep the price the same the next time.”

Hewitt says his ideal buyers aren’t necessarily people with money to burn. He prefers to sell pieces to people who wish to develop a relationship with them. That’s why he makes a wide variety of work in several price ranges.

“Though I fully recognize the fact that once I’ve sold a piece, the person is free to do whatever they want with it, I enjoy knowing they’re going to use it. The pieces of my work that I love the most are all pieces that I use over and over again.”

Hewitt’s accomplishments include having pieces in the permanent collections at the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Institution and the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, Va. He was recently honored with a solo exhibition at the Gallery of Art and Design at North Carolina State University and has been profiled in several notable publications including Smithsonian Magazine.

Waterworks exhibit

“Contemporary Carolina Clay” will also include works by emerging artists Brent Smith of Salisbury and Sean Kenny of Charlotte.

Kenny earned a master’s in fine arts degree in ceramic sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and teaches at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Smith creates functional work which is fired in an anagama style wood-firing kiln and a catenary arch gas kiln at his Salisbury studio.He teaches ceramics at Waterworks.

Artwork by students from West Rowan High will be featured in the Young People’s Gallery.

“Sculpture by Frank Holder” will also be displayed in the Taylor/Johnson Courtyard.

Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1-4 p.m. on Sunday. Closed Thanksgiving Day. For more information, call 636-1882.

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