Julie Conway photo | Karen and Brant Barnes and Maddie welcome visitors to their studio.
Functional art at Riverwood Pottery
Just up the hill and across the tracks from downtown Dillsboro is the Riverwood district, an eclectic collection of shops where the shop keepers invite visitors in for a first-hand look at the inner workings of their studios.
Among these is Riverwood Pottery, owned by Brant and Karen Barnes. Brant has been a potter for the past 30 years, and Karen, although she considers herself a potter-by-marriage, is also a musician. Shoppers are welcomed into the studio by Maddie, a little black peekanese-papillion mix who was rescued by the Barnes and is the ‘real’ owner of the studio.
“Many people stop by just to pet Maddie,” said Karen. “Then they stay a while to see what is happening in the studio. She is a great ambassador.”
The Barnes have owned the studio for 11 years, however Brant helped build the studio in 1973 for the previous owner, who was his friend from college.
Brant took his first pottery class in 1971, and built a wheel in his second class, which is still in use today at his studio. He was hooked after that first class, and has been making pottery ever since. He got his degree from Western Carolina University in 1974.
Karen enjoys pottery as well. She makes many of the smaller pieces in the shop and does most of the hand-built pieces. Her musical background inspired her to design and create pottery guitar slides, which are among the most popular items at Riverwood. Karen even keeps a guitar on hand so people can ‘try out’ a slide before they buy it.
The couple’s daughter Zan is also a potter. She is developing her own unique artistic style, which she brings to the family business. Zan’s degree is in theater and she works at Western Carolina as a costume designer.
“Zan is a natural,” said Brant. “She picked up the skills seemingly without any effort.”
Riverwood Pottery is a working studio, and Brant is happy to demonstrate his craft. Brant says he doesn’t make commissioned pieces; he prefers to make what he enjoys, rather than try to copy someone else’s ideas. But he must be doing something right because there is a waiting list to buy his unique kitchen ware. He specializes in functional kitchen pieces. He makes a lot of vases, dishes and serving pieces. He thinks of his work as art with a purpose.
“Just because it is ‘art’ doesn’t mean it can’t be used and enjoyed every day,” he said.
Brant is one of the people responsible for organizing the pottery festival last year in Dillsboro, along with Tree House Pottery. The festival was such a success that it has become an annual event which will bring in potters from North and South Carolina, Florida, Georgia and even as far away as Texas.
Brant and Karen enjoy the winter season because it is the best time to experiment with new ideas.
“This is when we have the most fun,” said Karen. “We get to try out all these new ideas and see what happened through trial and error.”
The Barnes are currently making bowls to donate to the empty bowl dinner in Waynesville. There will also be an empty bowl dinner at the soup kitchen in Jackson County this year, which they will be donating bowls to also.
Brant is experimenting with teapots as his next project. Teapots are popular, useful and collectible, and he has had a number in people ask him to make them a teapot. “After 30 years, I am still trying to master technique,” said Brant. “But I have never, ever run out of ideas. There are still so many things I want to make, that I may never get them all made.”
