CityView Magazine

March/April 2012

CityView Magazine - Fayetteville, NC

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arts Pot Luck Sanford Potter Sandy Cole finds inspiration for her art in her family's rich heritage vered art form, celebrating its heritage and artistic traditions. "Pottery has a rich past, but should be seen in North Caro- N lina as having an even brighter future," said Don Hudson, the Festival's founder and producer. "One of the main reasons the public so enjoys the SPF [Sanford Pottery Festival] is that we work hard to bring them an unrivaled selection of pot- tery made by a group of artists and craſtsmen who will benefit from close exposure to each other, their work and their ways of working." Sandy Cole, of Sanford's North Cole Pottery (northcole- pottery.com), knows that well. The name Cole is nearly syn- onymous with pottery in the state, as her family has been making pottery in this region for over 200 years. No single family has produced more potters or made more pots. Gener- BY KRISTY STEVENSON estled in the heart of the Seagrove area pot- teries, where the white beach sand from the coast meets the Piedmont clay, The Sanford Pottery Festi- val strives to shape the future of our state's most re- ations of previous Cole potters likely chose this path for rea- sons similar to Cole's: hand-me-down skills and stories of the past keep her inspired to create her pottery and add another link in the chain unbroken for so many years. "I can reach my hand into one of my dad's vases and touch the grooved inside walls lined with the tracks of his fingers and hold his hand once more," said Cole. "He has always been my main source and inspiration to make pottery." Her father, potter Truman Cole, pushed her as hard as if she had been born a son. He taught and showed by example that a person could learn and accomplish much if they set their mind to it. To this day, Cole says she still reaps those benefits. Her early childhood was spent in Sanford and includes vivid memories of the most developmental time in her life. As family elders ran the business of turning out pots, Cole just enjoyed being a kid. She loved the feel dirt and earth in her hands, but a career in pottery would not come until later in life. Living in New England three decades and three CityViewNC.com | 27

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