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The
Bay River Pottery
The Bay River Pottery is
located on the Bay River in Bayboro, North Carolina. This river winds
and widens as it slowly flows to the junction of the Pamlico Sound and
the Neuse River, about 15 miles away. The kayaking
is wonderful on our river and on many other rivers and creeks in Pamilco
County. We are 6 and a half hours East of Asheville,
NC, 3 hours east of Raleigh, NC, 1 hour NW of Morehead City, NC and
2 hours NE of Wilmington, NC. The nearest city, is 14 miles
to the west on Highway 55. New
Bern was the Colonial Capital of North Carolina, is sister city
to Bern, Switzerland, and home of the Tryon Palace, a historical
site and tourist attraction.  The
city lies on two rivers, the Neuse and the Trent and has a world of charm.
Oriental, 10 miles to the south is a quaint fishing village which according
to the residents is the "sailing capital of North Carolina". It is
right off the Intercoastal Waterway and is host to scores of boaters as
they move south in the winter and north in the summer. The studio
is also located within ten miles of Camp Sea Gull, Camp Seafarer, Camp
Caroline and is 14 miles from Fairfield Harbour. Rural in flavor,
the area depends on farming, fishing, tourism and has a large number
of retirees and working artists.
Studio Hours
The studio is
open to the public whenever we are at home. When we're working, we're
open and enjoy showing the methods we've developed over the years to make
the different types of pots. Just call for hours. We
do have a formal Open House in December which has become a local holiday
event.
Directions
From New Bern, take Highway 17 North across
the Neuse River Bridge, getting off at the first exit; Highway 55 East
to Bayboro
From Highway 55 in Bayboro, bear left
on Highway 304 (Vandemere Road), go three blocks to the Bay River Pottery
sign, which is on the right. Turn right; go towards the River and
down the driveway to the studio.
From Oriental, take 55 West to Bayboro,
turn right on First Street, right at the Stop sign, go 2 blocks to the
Bay River Pottery sign on right, turn right, go towards the River and down
the driveway to the studio. |
 The
Bay River Pottery began in 1976 when we bought property in Bayboro, but
was actually located first in New Orleans, LA, Raleigh, NC and Oriental,
NC. We began building in 1981 and finished in 1983. A
new 24 X 30 foot studio, completed in 2004, with a small display area,
2 propane gas kilns, a 48 cu.ft sprung arch kiln, a raku kiln, and a new
10 cu.ft. L&L electric kiln. This is a photo of the stoneware
kiln Norm built in 1985 and at 20 years old, was moved in 2005 to
the new location and been rebuilt and test fired successuflly. See
Flying
Kiln and Rebuilding the kiln
for pages showing the process.
The pottery has hosted Raku
workshops in previous years, and hopes to continue this tradition sometime
in the near future.
......
about Norm Norm is the Bay River Pottery's Renaissance
Man. He's the resident architect, engineer, pond keeper, sky hook
builder, web master, and Qigong practitioner. As a member of
the 'Coastal Carolina Schutzhund Club',  he
and Cleo have completed a 12 mile bicycle endurance trial to earn her USA
Schutzhund AD, and passed her BH (Behavior) Trial. He was born in
Chicago, IL, in 1940, grew up in Lockport, IL, and graduated from Lewis
College of Science and Technology with a B.S. in Aviation Industrial
Arts. He joined the Navy in 1961, and served for twenty years as
a Naval Officer, and as a Bombardier/Navigator, in the Navy's all weather
attack aircraft, A3D, (Sky Warrior), and A-6, (Intruder). He
started building our house and studio the day after he retired from
the Navy. Norm has made beautiful hand built raku pots and leads
the raku workshops. He also manages the business end, mountains
of paperwork, handles orders, fires the kilns, and puts out the myriad
number of daily fires which would distract the resident potter causing
her to waste enormous amounts of time thinking of 100 ways to put out the
fires using a sky hook. In short, Norm's the glue.
"The Nairobi Trio + One",
Hannes Giger, Chelsea Czuchra, Leo Giger, and Norm (Click
on image to enlarge)
When called upon, he can
still crank out a European medley, in addition to most standards, polkas,
and 
waltzes on his 'Cordean'. He reminds everyone that June is
"National Accordion Awareness Month". Norm has participated in the
First, Second and Third
Annual Accordion Blasts in Oriental, NC. (See
Accordion
Blast for more pictures and details.) The
National Accordionist Relocation Program, NARP .
In an unrelated story, look at Town
Dock Stolen?. In still another unrelated story, Croaker
Parade 2003. Acoustical
night in Oriental. See "The Bayboro Folly
". 2005 Stew
n Brew He finished the new studio prior to the 2004 Open
House, and has since converted the old studio into an apartment for 91year
old, Rita Young.
Email
norm@bayriverpottery.com |
The
Bay River Pottery began in 1976 when we bought property in Bayboro, but
was actually located first in New Orleans, LA, Raleigh, NC and Oriental,
NC. We began building in 1981 and finished in 1983. A
new 24 X 30 foot studio, completed in 2004, with a small display area,
2 propane gas kilns, a 48 cu.ft sprung arch kiln, a raku kiln, and a new
10 cu.ft. L&L electric kiln. This is a photo of the stoneware
kiln Norm built in 1985 and at 20 years old, was moved in 2005 to
the new location and been rebuilt and test fired successuflly. See
Flying
Kiln and Rebuilding the kiln
for pages showing the process.
