oie_BYtHfisHw2Ak (1)

The last few pots by Neolia of Cole Pottery in Sanford North Carolina

Article Originally Published July 2014

It was just another Tuesday on the outskirts of Sanford, Neolia Cole had started her day turning red North Carolina Clay, the same why she had spent a lot of Tuesdays over the past 75 years. It was mid August, she was getting a start on one of her best sellers for the fall season, the Jack-O-Lanterns when she got the call.

Her Husband had fell ill and was being rushed to the Hospital. She dropped what she was doing having no clue that it would be 10 months before again returned to the the only job she has ever known. On the way to the hospital she was T Boned at an intersection and broke over 7 bones in her body.  She would spend the next four months recovering just in time to lose her husband.

She just returned last week so I stopped by Saturday and grabbed everything in stock that she had turned. She will be making a little but it seems to be the end of an era unless Kenneth George returns. If your ever floating thru Sanford on a Saturday stop and and talk to a North Carolina Living Legend or visit the Exposition in Seagrove running until July 26th.

 

Coles Pottery is located in Sanford at 3410 Hawkins Ave

“Neolia, Keeper of the Cole Pottery Tradition: A Retrospective” & “Ring Jugs and Rundlets”

Through July 26, hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

The North Carolina Pottery Center, 233 East Ave., Seagrove.

 

Further Reading

Shaping Tradition

Coles Legacy Is Her Masterpiece

NC Folk

See #ColePottery for many more photos

 

She was kind enough to give me the last piece she was working on when she got the call
She was kind enough to give me the last piece she was working on when she got the call
Left : The last finished Right : Left to dry and forever frozen unfinished
Left : The last finished
Right : Left to dry and forever frozen unfinished
From the morning of the crash
From the morning of the crash

 

 

Telling the story of when she got that phone call
Telling the story of when she got that phone call
Tools Of The Trade
Tools Of The Trade
End Of Day Pieces
End Of Day Pieces
A wood Kiln still exist outdoors but goes unused
A wood Kiln still exist outdoors but goes unused
Neolia Cole
Neolia Cole
Large works by her father, AR Cole
Large works by her father, AR Cole
All turned by Neolia Cole herself
All turned by Neolia Cole herself
The 2 pieces with the story they hold could never be replaced
The 2 pieces with the story they hold could never be replaced
Finished Mugs
Finished Mugs

 

 

 

 

 

Share this article:

Share on facebook
Share on twitter
Share on linkedin

– read more –

Related Posts

NC Travel Guide

Wake Up Playlist

Wake Up Playlist 🌞 Every morning we wake up, we make an often unconscious choice on how the rest of our day is going to

Read More »