A R Britt PotteryA R Britt Pottery specializes in traditional pottery including the famous Rebekah pitcher. Creating gorgeous, hand turned, handmade traditional Seagrove style pottery featuring original formula glazes, Aaron Britt trained under legendary potter Nell Cole Graves and has thrown pots for 16 years. Today he explores the traditional forms and methods while searching for his own style. His shop showcases other potters work, too! One example of creating "traditional Seagrove pottery" is his use of stilts in the process of firing kilns. As opposed to waxing Aaron makes a seal on the After working at Holly Hill and J.B Cole's Potteries for a combined amount of 23 years he opened his own pottery shop in 2002. "It was time to start my own business," Britt said. A R Britt Pottery, located on U.S. 220-Business south of Asheboro, is an easy-to-find pottery, with the shop out front and Britt's kiln in the back yard. Britt said that he has come a long way since falling in love with pottery as a fifth grader at Bennett Elementary School. Nell Cole Graves, a pioneer in pottery, started at her father's shop when she was 6 years old and was the first woman turning wares on an old-style treadle wheel. Graves, who died in 1997 at age 88, opened the door for women to become potters and was the first woman to take a major role in the pottery business. Acknowledging that he always had a yearning to do pottery, Britt said that he would spend hours watching Graves work. He soon realized that by watching her, Graves would show him more than he would ever learn in a classroom. "I worked with Nell and she would come in and smash all of the pots that I had made in a day and make me do them over," Britt said. "She wanted me to look at repetition and quantity." Britt had never been schooled in pottery, but said that Graves had him turning within three months. "I could never stay mad at her because she was teaching me the old Seagrove ways." One of Graves' last students, Britt said that she had such a humble attitude about the pottery. "She was 74 at the time she taught me and I was 24 and she just wanted the tradition to go on.” "I feel like I bonded with her when she showed me how to do pots," he said. "You just need to learn to understand the criticism you receive and that will make you a better potter", she would say.
With the shop in such a central location, Britt hopes that his pottery will sell well and become known in the Seagrove Pottery area. "I like doing the Rebekah (Rebecca) pitchers the best, but I'm working on a new design," he said. Britt believes that the new project will help him find his niche in the pottery market. "I can't tell you what the design is, but I think everyone will like it," he said. "I want to make something unique to Seagrove pottery and my shop." Thinking back to where he started, A R Britt acknowledges that he has been blessed. "I learned from Nell and that has given me the opportunities that I have today," he said."Now I want to do something different, but I will try to keep it traditional as well." A.R. Britt Pottery is located just off of U.S. 220 South at the first pottery exit. Turn left on New Hope Church Road, then right on U.S. 220 Business South. Britt's shop is just 100 yards on the right.
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