The 11th annual Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational
I’ve been calling it a cross between the Academy Awards for potters and a Filene’s Basement bridal sale. We were told by our son Josh Copus, one of the exhibitors, that you have to see it to believe it, and over the weekend Joe and I finally did.
The Mint Museum Potters Market Invitational in Charlotte is not your average craft show but a showcase of North Carolina’s top potters in a fanfare event that includes a Friday evening preview and a dinner spread for sponsors, buyers and collectors and a 9:00 a.m. pre-public sales Saturday morning. The show opens for the public at 10:00 a.m. and people pour in from a very long line.
Josh’s booth created a buzz as soon as the doors opened. People orbited around his large round pots that made me think of planets and worlds colliding. Here’s Josh making an early sale to a buyer who said she had an upcoming show in L.A. that will feature Asian style art.
Josh’s show assistants were Peta and Ben Richardson of Ridgeline Pottery in Tasmania, Australia. Josh considers Ben and Peta his second parents and stays with them when he’s been in Australia for International Wood Fire Conferences. It was so good for Joe and I to meet them and get to know them a bit.
The sales start right away and don’t stop till the end of the day. Everyone worked hard wrapping pots that sometimes took two to corral. At one point I stopped snapping pictures to give hardworking Peta a neck rub.
Some people fell in love with certain pots and came back several times to see them. Others pulled out tape measures to see how the big pots would fit in their homes. Pictured here is Carol Gorelick, the honorary chair of the event that raises funds for the museum’s ceramics collection. Carol is a big fan of Josh’s and his work. After I took this picture, she pulled out her phone and showed me the Copus pots that she already proudly owns.
Of course I went around admiring all the masterful work. Here I am checking out red pots made by 7th generation potter of Seagrove NC fame, Ben Owen.
Oh, look there’s Ben Richardson (right) moonlighting at Eric Knoche’s booth. Eric (in the white shirt) was one of the early members of Josh’s Clayspace Co-op in the River Arts district of Asheville.
In the world of clay there are pots and sculpture, and then there are bricks. Here’s Josh with a fellow brick geek brainstorming some big installation ideas together. Josh met Steve (yellow shirt) when Steve found one of Josh’s community bricks and invited him to the giant brick plant where he works.
It’s a small world for potters. Many of the exhibitors at the Invitational Market knew or knew of each other and many of the exhibitors and collectors are also friends. It was the kind of warm event where you saw a lot of hugging and an occasional hand delivery of a newly purchased pot from the potter himself.
I’m off to create my Pottery Market Invitational Facebook album with even more shots from the day. Meanwhile, you can watch the clip above of the public opening of the show. The one below is of the sponsors early hour and the early buzz around Josh’s booth.
Follow Josh at joshcopus.com. My blog documentation of Josh and his work is HERE. / Our World Tuesday
September 13th, 2015 4:15 pm
Loved reading your blog. I am so happy to finally have met you, and I do hope to see you again.
You have a very talented son who has many fans.
Seeing is believing. Glad you got to see it.
Warm regards, Carol
September 14th, 2015 5:51 am
Josh is amazing.
To bring his works into being is magical.
His talents must stem from his mother, you Colleen, who has demonstrated how simple words can be strung together to form something out of value.
Words are not bricks or clay but the idea is the same.
September 14th, 2015 8:06 am
This must have been a very fun time for pottery lovers…so glad it was such a success.
September 14th, 2015 10:01 am
He came in like a bright light ready to go. Yes, lucky he had a mother who loves children and worked with them in daycare setting up art projects before I was a mother. He was exposed him to all sorts of materials early on. I think he could have picked anything involving art to be good at in life. He’s also a good writer and his collage journals are amazing. I actually thought he might be a lawyer because he is so good a talking/presenting a case and then I thought he would be an theater. He was so good in all his high school plays. He’s such a hard worker and was so loved and respected by many at the show.
September 14th, 2015 2:38 pm
Looks like it was a fun time!
September 14th, 2015 4:26 pm
Wow! What a show and your son’s work is fantastic just in the photo ~ So glad for all of you! Fun and creative day!
Happy Week to you,
artmusedog and carol
September 14th, 2015 5:15 pm
What a fun event. I see many pretty pottery pieces I would like. Your son’s work is awesome. Thanks for sharing!
Have a happy new week ahead!
September 15th, 2015 3:31 am
must be so much fun! Don’t know of any pottery events in California, do you?
September 16th, 2015 11:21 pm
[…] 4. I’ve been calling it a cross between the Academy Awards for potters and a Filenes Basement bridal sale. We were told by our son Josh Copus, one of the exhibitors, that you have to see it to believe it, and over the weekend Joe and I finally did. Josh’s booth created quite a buzz. People orbited around his large round pots that made me think of planets and world’s colliding. – More from The 11th Annual Potters Market Invitational HERE. […]
October 10th, 2015 2:20 pm
We had a great time at PMI! Hope you can join us for our new show next weekend at the Park Expo Center. Charlotte Contemporary will feature over 100 of the nation’s top contemporary artists offering their latest work in ceramics, glass, and many other media; also wearable art, jewelry and fashion accessories. We were proud to sponsor PMI, and look forward to doing it again next year! Thanks, Bill Underwood