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Born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, Mark is the son and grandson of directors of Spode, the fine china manufacturers. As a student at Bristol University in the early 1970's, Mark read Bernard Leach's "A Potter's Book," and decided to become a studio potter rather than an industrial manager. This decision led to a three-year apprenticeship with Michael Cardew, and later another with Todd Piker in Connecticut, where Mark met his wife, Carol.
In 1983 they moved to Pittsboro NC and set up their pottery. Mark built a very large wood kiln and began making the distinctive functional pots for which he is known, specializing in very large planters and jars, along with finely made smaller items. He uses local clays and blends the different North Carolinian folk traditions together into a contemporary style that has attracted a sizeable following. His work has been featured in the Smithsonian magazine and on the cover of American Craft magazine, he has written extensively in the ceramic press, and he has exhibited in London, New York and Tokyo, as well as throughout the US. He is well-represented in museum and private collections.
Mark and Nancy Sweezy recently co-curated the highly-regarded exhibition, "The Potter’s Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina Pottery," at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, October 30, 2005 – March 19, 2006. UNC Press published a superbly illustrated catalogue/book.
Mark and his work were featured extensively in the recent nationwide PBS TV series, "Craft in America," and he is looking forward to two exhibitions of his big pots, the first, starting February 2010, at the Nasher Museum, at Duke University in Durham, NC, and the second, starting January 2011, at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans.
resume
Visit the Publications page to download and view some of the articles and catalogs listed on this page.
Download the resume.
Mark Hewitt moved to North Carolina in 1983 and specializes in the production of very large planters, storage jars and vases, along with a full range of high quality tableware. He mines and refines local stoneware clays, and his principal glazes are the traditional Southern alkaline glaze and salt glaze. All his work is fired in a big wood-burning kiln the size of a school bus, which he fires three times a year.
Background
Born in Stoke-on-Trent, England; father and grandfather
were Directors of Spode.
1976-1979; Apprenticed to Michael Cardew at Wenford Bridge Pottery,
Bodmin, England.
1979-1983; Apprenticed to Todd Piker at Cornwall Bridge Pottery,
Cornwall Bridge, CT, USA.
1978-79, 1982; Independent study of traditional potteries in West
Africa, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.
Education
1976: B.Soc.Sci. in Geography, University of Bristol, England.
Permanent Collections
Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
High Museum, Atlanta, GA see Exhibition Gallery
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, MN
Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA
National Arboretum, Washington, DC
Spencer Museum, Kansas City, KS
Mint Museums, Charlotte, NC
Ackland Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC
Rocky Mount Arts center, Rocky Mount, NC
North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC
American Museum of Ceramic Art, Pomona, CA
Minneapolis Institute of Art, MN see
Exhibition Gallery
Upcoming Solo Exhibitions
January 2011 Ogden Museum, New Orleans, LO, essays by Allan Gurganus and Christopher Benfey
February 2010 Nasher Museum, Duke University, Durham, NC, “Falling Into
Place,” essays by Tanya Harrod and Henry Glassie
Recent Solo Exhibitions
Sept 2007 Signature Shop, Atlanta, GA
June 2004 Ferrin Gallery, Lennox, MA
October 2003 Signature Shop, Atlanta, GA
May 2002 Gallery Yufuku, Tokyo, Japan
April 2002 Cameron Art Museum, Wilmington, NC (inaugural show
in the Sculpture Court) see Exhibition Gallery
June 2001 Gallery Dai Ichi Arts, 24 West 57th Street, New York, NY
August 2000 Harlequin Gallery, London, England
Selected Group Shows
2009 “A Unique Likeness,” Rocky Mount Arts Center, NC
2008 AKAR Gallery, Iowa City, Iowa
2007 Ferrin Gallery, NCECA, Louisville, KY
2006 Governor’s Executive Mansion, NC Craft Exhibition, Raleigh, NC
2004 Ferrin Gallery, SOFA Chicago
2003 21st Century Ceramics in the US and Canada, Columbus, OH
Exhibitions as Curator
October 2005-March 2006 “The Potter’s Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina Pottery,” at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC. Co-curator with Nancy Sweezy. Book accompanying the exhibition written by Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy, published by UNC Press.
Major Demonstrations
Feb 2007 Canadian Clay Symposium, Vancouver, BC, Canada
April 2005 Functional Ceramics Workshop, Wooster, OH
June 2004 Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
April 2003 10th National Australian Ceramics Conference, Bendigo (also Keynote Speaker)
March 2000 NCECA, Columbus, OH, USA
Publications
July 2009 Clay Times, “Conversations: Mark Hewitt,” by Joe Campbell
May 2009 Ceramics Monthly, “Working Potter,” by Mark Hewitt
Fall 2008 Ceramics: Art and Perception, Book Review of “Searching for Beauty,” by Richard Jacobs
October 2007 Goldmark Gallery, Svend Bayer exhibition catalogue, “I Want to Lie Down and Sleep in its Shadow,” by Mark Hewitt
June 2007 Ceramics Monthly, “Functional Pride,” by Mark Hewitt
October 2005 UNC Press, “The Potter’s Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina Pottery,” Mark Hewitt and Nancy Sweezy
April 2005 The Rambler, “Moving the Earth a Little Closer to Heaven,” by Dave Korzon
March 2005 NCECA, “Who’d Be a Potter?” Apprenticeship: An Educational Alternative
December 2004 Clay Times, cover article, “Mammoth Pots,”
by Wendy Summers
December 2004 American Craft, cover article, “Village Potter”,
by Ed Lebow
October 2004 “The Poetry in North Carolina Pottery,”
in “North Carolina Pottery: The Collection of the Mint Museums,”
UNC Press
December 2002 Studio Potter: “Mark Hewitt – Outside,”
by Henry Glassie
December 2002 Ceramics: Art and Perception #50: “Marking Time,”
by Robert Yellin
May 8, 2002 Japan Times: “Heart and Soul in Your Hands,”
Robert Yellin
April 2002 Ceramics Monthly: “The Iced Tea Ceremony,”
Mark Hewitt
July 3, 2001 Wall Street Journal: “The Magic of a Very Hot
Fire,” Jim Morrison
June 2001 Ceramics: Art and Perception #44, “Just Another
Mug,” Mark Hewitt
October 2000 Studio Potter: “Tradition is the Future,”
Mark Hewitt
October 1998 Smithsonian Magazine, “Fired with Finesse,”
Jim Morrison
September 1997 Ceramics: Art and Perception #29, “A Pot in
the Hand,” Mark Hewitt
May 1997 Ceramics: Art and Perception #28, “Jeff Shapiro’s
Gestures of Creativity,” Mark Hewitt
January 1996 Studio Potter, “Conversations,” with Janet
Mansfield and Emily Galusha
September 1993 Ceramics: Art and Perception #12 “Carrying
on a Tradition,” Charles G. Zug III
April 1991 Ceramics Monthly, cover article, “The Making of
a Potter,” Mark Hewitt
TV
October 2009 PBS TV nationwide, “Craft in America,” Origins episode
Teaching
Spring 2009 Adjunct Professor, UNC Chapel Hill, with Prof. Townsend Ludington, “Reading American Culture through Pottery, Painting, and Prose”
Boards
2008–present Vice President, North Carolina Pottery Center, Seagrove, NC