Blaine M. Avery
Along with private and corporate collections, Blaine’s
work is included in the permanent collection of the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC. His work has been featured nationally
in numerous gallery and museum exhibitions such as Strictly Functional
Pottery National in Lancaster, PA, By
Example: NC Potters and Their Mentors
Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art in Greensboro, NC, and Seven
Studios from Seagrove
Burroughs-Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach, SC. Additionally, his work can be seen in publications
such as Ceramics Monthly, Ceramics
Now International Magazine, and Lark
Books’ 500 Bowls and Ceramics for Beginners: Surfaces, Glazes & Firing.
Blaine has been a studio potter since 1991. He took an apprenticeship with Sid
Oakley at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, NC. After a year under Sid's direction, Blaine stayed on at Cedar
Creek, renting studio space as a resident artist, and selling his work through
the gallery, along with other galleries throughout the southeast.
Blaine was awarded a scholarship in 1996 to study
glaze formulation at the Arrowmont School of Crafts in Gatlinburg, TN under
Lanna Wilson and Pete Pennel.
There he furthered his understanding of the chemical formulation of clay
and glazes. This enabled him to
begin developing surface decorating techniques that became the foundation for
the work he is known for today.
In 2002, Blaine moved to Seagrove, NC to open his own
retail gallery and studio, Avery Pottery & Tileworks. Today, Blaine sells
his work primarily through his gallery, through select craft galleries and fine
craft shows.
"Inspired by an amalgamation of ancient cultures,
the gestural surface decorations on my work are applied with porcelain slip and
under glazes at the green stage of the process. Layering the slip designs underneath the glaze creates a
greater sense of depth that accentuates the contours of the forms. Pattern,
rhythm, imagery and color are all used to complete the form, which is grounded
in the bold and refined characteristics of traditional southern pottery."
