Pottery Lovers Put Their Best Face Forward

Local pottery lovers took their art appreciation to the next level recently at Outlaw Pottery Studio, School and Gallery when they participated in a face mug workshop taught by potter, sculptor and ceramic artist Jason Outlaw of Hickory.

The class consisted primarily of students who had never touched clay before. Each student chose their preferred pot—large mug, half gallon jug or gallon jug—which Outlaw wheel-threw for them prior to the workshop. During three hours of detailed instruction, each student sculpted and applied facial features to their pottery. The results were wonderfully hideous face jugs.

Workshop participant Linda Zohovetz of Vale said of the workshop, “I absolutely loved it! Working with the clay was so meditative to me. I recently had back surgery and making my face jug was very therapeutic. The class really took my mind off my pain. I went into my own world. I can’t wait to do more pottery!”

Southern face jug lore is great and varied. Most historians agree that European immigrants who settled in the South began making pottery—including face jugs—in the 1700’s. One common tale is that the ugly faces on jugs were meant to scare children away from the moonshine kept inside the jug.

Outlaw says, “One of the great things about teaching people to make face jugs is watching them create their own unique face. Some people like to make whimsical faces. Other people like to make scary faces. My favorite face jug that I have seen is a German face jug from the 1500’s that has a grumpy looking face when the jug sits on the table, but when you tip the jug up to drink out of it the beard turns into a happy face.”

In addition to occasional face jug and hand-building weekend workshops, Outlaw teaches weekly wheel-throwing pottery classes for adults and clay art classes for children at Outlaw Pottery, LLC Studio, School and Gallery, located at 1447 C Highland Avenue NE in Hickory, NC.

The next Saturday pottery event that is open to the public at Outlaw Pottery is the Moonlight Raku Firing on August 21st. Local potters can bring their pots to be glazed and raku fired. Adults and children can also purchase a raku pot, vase or planter or raku bisque—like frogs, butterflies, roosters and piggy banks—to dip or paint glaze and have fired on-site within an hour. Pre-registration is required.

For more information on the raku firing and regular pottery classes offered by Outlaw Pottery, call 828-896-3288 or visit www.outlawpottery.com.