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David Voorhees Pottery

Phone: 828-698-8775

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Silveramics: porcelain and silver jewelry

Traveling Peace Mug Project

About Voorhees Pottery

David started his pottery in the mountains of Western North Carolina in 1975. With several moves through the years, his pottery has been located on his beautiful homestead, Sunburst Hollow in Zirconia, NC since 2000.

He designed and constructed his studio building, a passive solar timberframed structure to overlook a garden area. Recent completion of an upstairs loft space will become Molly's jewelry studio soon. The wood-fired kiln was built in 2009 and has been fired about 5 times a year since.

David's studio is open for visitors by appointment or during one of the several Sunburst Hollow art events they hold each year. So, sign up for our mailing list to be notified.

Born in NY in 1950 and raised in suburban NYC in a large family exposed to lots of art via city offerings, David remembers fondly trips to The Met as well as Greenwich Village. His father studied painting at the Arts Students League and later moved the family to coastal North Carolina to pursue his passion for watercolor seascape painting. David picked up painting by osmosis hanging around in his dad’s studio and followed a fine arts track at Sewanee under Ed Carlos. While there he took his first wheel pottery class and found his own passion for working 3D and functional. Further graduate studies in painting were abandoned in 1974 so he could start making pottery full time, ending up in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Many workshops followed through the years with potters, some known others not. Notably, David Leach introduced him to porcelain. Studies have included painting workshops as well.

David chose to focus on porcelain exclusively for more than 15 years, using under glaze painting on simple classical forms fired in oxidation to create a colorful line of work sold at art fairs and East Coast galleries. In 1996, David and his soon-to-be wife, jeweler Molly Sharp opened Hand in Hand Gallery in Flat Rock, NC as a sales venue for their own work and several family members. The gallery business grew to a level of representing up to 200 regional artists and mounting numerous invitational exhibitions every year. During the gallery years David became increasingly interested in wood firing which led to building his own unique kiln in 2008. As a car kiln with Bourry-style firebox and a built in pizza oven it represents an amalgam of various kiln ideas, incorporates soda/salt, fires well in 24 hours and draws a crowd at dinner time.

David and Molly closed their gallery after 16 years in retail to give more time to their own artwork and spend more time with grandchildren. David fires his kiln 4 times a year, occasionally hosts guest artists for firings or workshops, and sells his work through regional galleries, exhibitions, and at home sales events.

About David

Both of his parents were professional painters, so it was natural for David to follow in their footsteps pursuing art making as a life. Once he touched clay he found his medium! Primarily self taught, he has spent years producing functional wares and decorative pots in electric and gas kilns. The introduction of wood firing and building a wood/soda/salt kiln have given new direction to his 30+ year career in clay. Following his fascination for surface variations revealed in atmospheric firings has led to the current body of work focusing on altered wheel-thrown stoneware and porcelain vessels. He celebrates the pursuit of strong forms and rich surfaces on well made pots.

Artist Statement