Potters are everywhere in Western North Carolina, but Rodney Leftwich gets a shelf all to himself — not just because he’s a mountain native, but for being an ambassador of the pioneer ways, a journey he hitched to his own creative work. He remembers using clay as early as age five; once he was grown, he took classes at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC, and studied with experts of the old Appalachian form. The genre is distinguished by hand-dug clay and vernacular “face jugs” — widely copied folk-art vessels thought to have originated in Candler, just west of Asheville.
Eventually, Leftwich began making his own mark. He crafted reticulated vases depicted with cutouts of southern-mountain life — farmers, laurel leaves, youth in old-fashioned clothes. Lanterns and vessels exhibit meticulously incised imagery. Even new-carved, they look culturally significant — there’s a hieroglyphic patina suggesting future icons of archaeological digs.
In his Henderson County studio, Leftwich collaborates with his wife Kim, a talented self-taught potter. Together, they collect and promote other artists’ work, as well, most notably “potter/pioneer” Walter B. Stephen, born in 1876. The Leftwiches host a biannual two-weekend series of events in spring and fall, sales featuring rare folk art and fine-art pottery with a micro-regional focus (from Stephen’s Pisgah Forest and Nonconnah potteries, Catawba Valley, the foothills regions, etc.), plus random antiques.
“I have spent over 40 years collecting and researching historic Western North Carolina folk and art pottery,” says Leftwich. Last year, he notes, he came across his sketchbooks from three decades ago. “They contained my most creative ideas for pottery and sculptures. While really unique, they were never done. Instead, being a single father, I focused on smaller, more marketable pieces to survive as a potter.”
Having made a career of promoting historic pottery through research, lectures, and publications, “I find it’s time now to focus on my own best work,” says Leftwich. “Hopefully others will appreciate these ceramic treasures of our mountains, as I have.”
Rodney and Kim Leftwich’s studio at 166 Bane Road in Mills River will be open for visitors on May 20 and 21 and on May 27 and 28, 10am to 6pm. For more info, call 828-890-3053 or see pisgahforestpottery.com