“…We all carry, inside us, people who came before us” and potter Ben Owen III of Seagrove, North Caroline is living proof of this words by author Suzanne Collins. His forefathers came from England as early as the late 1700s and applied their craft and furnish storage jars and other utilitarian wares to early settlers.
Through high school, Ben III studied the shapes, glazes and traditions of the Owen principle and learned to appreciate the history and legacy of generations of craft. Like his grandfather, Ben III’s creates pottery that reflects a foundation in traditional early American designs and incorporates influences from Asia, Europe and Persia.
“I sometimes demonstrate pottery-making to give the public a better understanding of what chapters precede the finished product, to illustrate the origins of form and design.”
Ben’s works have included glaze creation and experimentation. “For some pots, I use a four-chambered wood kiln with a firing process of up to four days. The prolonged exposure to ash and heat develops a wide range of color and texture on the clay. Other glaze techniques have evolved in a gas or electric kiln with a precision in temperature control to manipulate the finish. Some pieces are re-fired to develop layers and depth on the finish.” A large of his works is much larger in scale and carefully designed to enhance the grandeur of a public space.
Owen’s works can found in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC; the International Folk Art Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Schein-Joseph International Museum of Art in Alfred, New York and the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, North Carolina.
In addition to the above, he has created custom works installed in a series of premier hotels and public spaces – the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Tokyo, Japan, Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary, North Carolina, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts and Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Joanna Gaines, author of The Magnolia Story said, “There’s something about doing things the way our ancestors used to do them that kind of puts your heart back into the rhythm of this thing called life.” With those words said, see for yourself: benowenpottery.com.
Reprinted from AAPJ’s past Potter’s Shed print edition