Come to Leicester studio tour returns for 16th year
Photo by Rachel Pressley
Leicester potter Cat Jarosz has yet to earn herself the title of “Crazy Chicken Lady,” though she’s coming close. It’s not that she hoards poultry but rather that she bends to the whims of one particularly ornery hen—a clucker she has dubbed “Mean Chicken.”
“The neighbors let me keep her because she doesn’t like to hang with other hens,” says Jarosz. “She’s an old girl who just wants to be the boss.”
This fowl digression speaks to Jarosz’s sense of whimsy. She is never one to take life—or her career, for that matter—too seriously. Since 1991, when she established her namesake pottery business, Jarosz has made a living out of tongue-in-cheek vessels.
Photo by Rachel Pressley
Her chip-and-dip set is a howling dachshund glazed and fired to hold savory spreads. Her owl vases are perfect for housing spatulas and whisks, but can also serve as menacing decoys. “I made my first owl scare off mice,” the potter insists. Though Jarosz’s work has evolved over the decades, in some ways becoming more refined, she is faithful to her fantastical style. One intricate piece comprises an elephant teapot set on a circus-like dais; a small bird is perched on the elephant’s back and the teacups are shaped like his stout feet. “I don’t want realism,” she says. “I’m more of a cartoonist.”
She is also one of the founding members of Come to Leicester, an annual driving studio tour of a small, rural community northwest of Asheville. For 16 years, Jarosz and dozens of other Leicester-based artists have opened their doors and unveiled their crafts—from pottery to jewelry to glass. Even during the pandemic last August, when other studio tours went dark or moved online, Come to Leicester organizers pushed forward with a face-to-face event, providing hand sanitizer and disposable masks for guests.
Jarosz underscores the event’s importance, but not without cracking a joke: “Artists in Leicester are like redheaded stepchildren,” she says. “We need people to know that we’re out here—that the Buncombe County arts scene isn’t just the River Arts District and downtown.”
In past years, Jarosz and her husband have “gone all out” for the tour, grilling burgers and hotdogs. This summer, however, guests are in for a bigger treat.
“If Mean Chicken is around, you’ll probably see her,” says Jarosz. “She might be taking a dirt bath when you drive through.”
The Comeback Tour
August 21-22
The Come to Leicester Annual Artist Studio Tour happens Saturday, Aug. 21 and Sunday, Aug. 22, 10am-6pm, in the rural Leicester Highway region of northwestern Buncombe County. More than 25 well-known and up-and-coming painters, potters, metalworkers, textile artists, and others will participate: Wesley Angel, Peggy Baldwin, Frank Barbara, Adrienne Blum, John Cummings, Joe Desousa, Peggy Eckel, Raquel Egosi, Marlow Gates, Beth Hampton Jones, Barbara Hebert, Jean Louise Hord, Cat Jarosz, Matt Jones, Kathy Mack, Sandra Mason, Patrick McDermott, Nirado Sloan, Terri Owen, Cindy Parks, Suzanne Saunders, Pia Schliesseit, Jennifer Sparks, Anita Walling, Doc Welty, Brad Worden, and Noel Yovovich. For a downloadable map and more information, see cometoleicester.org.
Cat Jarosz Pottery, 1177 Bear Creek Road, Leicester. The potter will vend at the Come to Leicester Studio Tour Saturday, Aug. 21 and Sunday, Aug. 22 (see more information in box). Other upcoming shows include the Potters Market at the Mint Museum in Charlotte on Saturday, Sept. 25 (pottersmarketathemint.com); the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands, running Thursday, Oct. 14 through Sunday, Oct. 17 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville (87 Haywood St., southernhighlandguild.org); and the holiday Seconds Sale at the Folk Art Center in December. Her studio is also open by appointment: call or text 828-775-3747 or e-mail catjarosz@bellsouth.net. For more information, see catjarosz.com.