About this episode
Andrew Stephenson was born in Birmingham, England in 1972 and moved to the states with his family in 1979. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from East Carolina University in 1996. Shortly after graduation he moved to Asheville, NC to take a position as a resident potter at the Odyssey Center for the ceramic Arts. Andrew has always loved the folk pottery of England and especially the wood fired salt-glazed pottery of North Carolina, so when he was offered a two year apprenticeship with Matt Jones, a former apprentice of Todd Piker and Mark Hewitt, he jumped at the chance. During the apprenticeship he learned the forms and turning techniques that have been passed down from potter to potter since the days of Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew. Andrew also helped Matt fire his 300 cubic foot wood fired kiln and his smaller 100 cubic foot kiln fueling his love for wood firing. When Andrew was finished with his apprenticeship he bought a house in rural Rutherford county, received a grant, and built his own 300 cubic foot wood kiln and holds several kiln openings a year. Andrew continues the long tradition of wood firing in North Carolina and sells his work in galleries throughout the southeast.