Don Hodgin

Originally from Greensboro, NC, Don has also lived and worked 14 years in the Pacific Northwest and the last 21 in the Raleigh, NC, area. Don received a B.F.A. after attending East Carolina University and University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Art Education. At ECU, he developed artistically and then received his teaching foundation at UNCG. Divorced, after having been married for 22 years with 2 children, Don began a new life dedicated to the right side of his brain.

Burned Earth Pottery began in 1995. This is when Don's undeniable passion for developing his own path in the world of clay began again. Since then, his work has shown in galleries from Hillsboro, NC, to coastal areas such as Swansboro, NC, and many outdoor shows. Don planned and landscaped a studio area on his property in Wake Forest, NC, for approximately 4 years and then finally broke ground on the structure in 2010. Finished in the spring of 2010, it now is his place of refuge, thought and creative indulgence.

Don's Statement

One of the many things I like about the functional things that I create is imagining who might be using this pot, pitcher, mug or vase in the future long after I'm no longer a part of this earth, and that it might be hundreds of years from now. I've always felt the importance of leaving something behind. To think that it could be something tangible is just really unimaginable. I could use this space and time for impressive (and sometimes ambiguous) "Art Speak". However, art and especially pottery, should be about simplicity, honesty and truth. I truely hope this is what my forms convey.

I honestly believe that the most unforgivable wrongs we can commit, in the short time we're alive, is to ignore the passions that are apparently God-given and not to show the love we have for the ones closest to us.

-Don Hodgin (Josh and Bailey's Dad).