Photos Jason Huynh
Local potter Dale Ellis has been throwing clay for five years, and is only getting better with age.
His handcrafted jugs are inspired by traditional Appalachian Folk Art and feature everything from wildlife to regional moonshining heroes.
The process of handcrafting these unique jugs usually takes several days from the initial throwing, to carving and painting the final product, and as Ellis puts it, “Once I get going they just start to flow.”
After building up an inventory, Ellis has recently sold many of his pieces under the name Clay Oddities, a fitting description for his style of work. “I was running out of room and was afraid I was going to wind up on the television show, Hoarders,” he jokes. Despite the variety of subjects that drive his work, Ellis says that he doesn’t pick favorite pieces. “They’re kind of like kids, they’re all different and you love them all.”
