Mud Dabbers’ whimsical stoneware is known worldwide
By: Carolyn Kemmett
Photo by Clay Nations Photography
Seasoned art collectors seek the work of those who’ve long been on their radar. But serendipity can transform a discoverer into an admirer — and, finally, into a bonafide collector.
Such is the case with Doug and Diane Corkhill, Whittier residents who discovered Brad Dodson, the artist who made Mud Dabbers Pottery & Crafts (the name is a play on mud-dauber wasps) into a must-stop for handmade stoneware-pottery lovers.
Mud Dabbers has been family owned and operated in North Carolina since 1988, when Brad’s late father, John Dodson, opened the family’s still-operating flagship location in Brevard with wife Sybil (now run by Brad’s brother John, who kept the shop in Transylvania County, moving it down the road from its original site in 2000). “Mud Dabbers II” is sited in a red roadside cottage in Balsam, between Waynesville and Sylva in Jackson County.
Brad’s wares show his love of outdoor mountain life and the area’s folk-art heritage. His functional and decorative pieces include his inspired take on Appalachian face vessels and his sought-after garden goodies, especially an iconic series of gnomes and popular mushroom stakes finished in fun colors and surface designs. The shop’s holiday open house in December, where cider is served in limited-edition free ceramic cups, draws committed collectors from places such as Highlands and Atlanta.
Brad Dodson’s brand is heavy on pieces meant for outdoor display, including his popular spotted mushroom stakes (example bottom right).
Photo by Clay Nations Photography
The Corkhills came upon Brad Dodson’s playful work years ago when they lived in Asheville but regularly traveled west to their secluded Whittier lot, where they’d built a rustic cabin and were planning to site their forever home.
“I visited on weekends to do landscaping in anticipation of building our home,” explains Doug. He adds that he planted nearly 200 native azaleas on the property and a special winding path just for yard art. Already a collector of whimsy, Doug had lined the path with everything from a Low Country bottle tree to various birdhouses to a figurine of KISS singer/bassist Gene Simmons.
Eventually, he discovered Mud Dabbers on the Great Smoky Mountains Expressway. “I’d drive past the shop and see Brad’s cool mushroom creations lining the highway. One day I stopped and bought one, and that was the start of our relationship with Brad,” he says. “Next thing I knew, we’d acquired about 10 mushrooms in different sizes, shapes, and colors.”
The Corkhills’ pottery collection is unique because it consists mainly of outdoor pieces that adorn their homesite and home’s exterior, as opposed to mugs and platters displayed in a china hutch and saved for special occasions (although Diane is fond of Brad’s functional spoon and sponge rests).
The couple continued purchasing Mud Dabbers pottery en route to their cabin on weekends. “We enjoyed buying flower totem poles and these wonderful bird jugs,” Diane enthuses. “Brad makes three different styles — a male bird, a female, and a baby bird. We’ve got a cigar-smoking male and a female with red lips and a hat with a flower.”
Doug even named them: “‘Chompie’” is the boy and ‘Smoochie’ is the girl. But we don’t have a baby — yet.”
Another of the Corkhills’ favorite Mud Dabbers classics is a studio trademark: a smiling sun sculpture, complete with a protruding purple tongue that suggests the devilish mischief of the vernacular face jugs.
“Brad makes them in all sizes, from dessert-plate [size] to much larger,” says Doug. When their home in Whittier was finally complete, they bought one so large they got their builders to hang it on the exterior: “It’s three feet in diameter.”
Photos by Clay Nations Photography
The couple moved into their new home right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. “We got our certificate of occupancy in March, 2020, one week before everything shut down. We also have a smaller sun on our screened-porch wall that will forever elicit memories of the trials and joys of that time,” shares Doug. During the pandemic, they renewed their effort to support small local businesses like Mud Dabbers.
They’ve also become global ambassadors of Brad’s work, giving housewarming suns to friends and family in travels everywhere from New Zealand to France to St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Doug’s parents had a home that was destroyed in 2017’s Hurricane Irma. During the rebuild, Doug commissioned Brad to make custom sconces that incorporated an indigenous petroglyph motif. “Brad overlaid them with a lacy pattern, and [the design includes] a sand-dollar image — they’re beautiful,” Diane says.
Recently, Mud Dabbers’ original location in Brevard got some serious celebrity screen time from Stephen Colbert and NC Governor Josh Stein. When Stein went on Colbert’s Late Show in June to discuss post-Helene economic recovery in the western part of the state, Colbert revealed he often stops at Mud Dabbers’ Transylvania County shop on trips to the mountains — and urged viewers to do so, too. “Tell them I sent you,” he quipped. (Mud Dabbers reportedly saw a surge in business following the shout-out.)
Not counting what they’ve given as gifts, the Corkhills estimate that they now own around 30 pieces. The couple considers their collection a living thing, rather than something to be enjoyed passively.
“Brad’s pieces work so well with our outdoor environment and aesthetic,” says Diane.
Mud Dabbers Pottery & Crafts, 20767 Great Smoky Mountains Expy., Balsam, (828) 456-1916, open Monday through Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 1-5pm and Mud Dabbers Pottery & Crafts II on Facebook (muddabberspottery.com). Mud Dabbers Pottery in Brevard, 3623 Greenville Hwy., 828-884-5131, is currently open 10am-5pm Monday through Saturdays and 12-5pm on Sundays (muddabbers.com).