About Me
The Potter
Terance Painter at the wheel
I was born in western North Carolina and grew up just a few hundred yards from my present studio. I began a long love affair with art when I began painting at age 12. After trying my hand at many different media, I settled on studying painting and printmaking at Western Carolina University. It was there that I was first exposed to clay and after only two weeks in a required ceramic course, I knew that I had found my calling. I have been making pottery full time ever since.
It seems somewhat strange to have spent more than 30 years making things out of clay, but all of my life I have been, at my core, a maker. Don’t get me wrong. I love the finished product and there is nothing else quite like the look and feel of a fine piece of handmade pottery. But for me its more about the making. The experience of a vessel forming beneath your finger tips from a useless lump remains extraordinary and amazing. Even after all these years, I still look forward to coming to work.
One of my other joys is all the interesting people I get to meet. I also like to talk about pottery almost as much as I like to make it. So if you stop by, I may tell you far more than you wanted to know. Be prepared.