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Dwayne L. Crocker
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Dwayne grew up at the foothills of the Northeast Georgia
Mountains in Lula Ga.
In 1975 at the age of 16, he started working
after school at H. A. Wilson Pottery. Beating the clay over a
wire and
setting and unloading the pottery from the wood burning kiln really enthused
him. He would always watch, pick up tips and pieces of advice as the Wilson’s
and others would turn pots on the potters wheel. His love of clay goes way back
to when he was knee high. He was always making things out of clay, from school
projects to mud pies.
Mountains in Lula Ga.
In 1975 at the age of 16, he started working
after school at H. A. Wilson Pottery. Beating the clay over a
wire and
setting and unloading the pottery from the wood burning kiln really enthused
him. He would always watch, pick up tips and pieces of advice as the Wilson’s
and others would turn pots on the potters wheel. His love of clay goes way back
to when he was knee high. He was always making things out of clay, from school
projects to mud pies.
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A lot of days Dwayne would stay after work and play
around on the wheel and would turn small cactus bowls. When he got good enough, after turning what seemed liked thousands, they started selling them and paying him for each one he set off the wheel. Dwayne worked at Wilson's until 1979 and then went to work turning garden ware for a large pottery plant in Gillsville Ga. After getting married in 1983 he moved from Lula to Gillsville. |
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In 1990, in an old barn behind his house he started
turning pots and making glazed pieces such as face jugs, roosters, and pigs. What started as a hobby grew until 1999 when he built his shop thus opening --- Crocker Folk Pottery --- in Gillsville Ga. Dwayne now works full time in his shop, sometimes up to 12 to 14 hours a day. |
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He strives on the traditions of old… starting from the
ground up, using Georgia red clay, mixing glazes, to straining ashes for his glazes. He tries the traditions of old by using time honored methods, concepts, tools (a straw and a nail) and designs, as the old timers before him. Each piece of Dwayne's pottery is crafted by hand using unique designs to produce the highest quality of folk pottery. He combines the traditions of old with a breath of fresh air from whimsical faces, silly looking jugs, snakes, and roosters, using glazes combining the old with the new while still maintaining the authenticity of potters who came before him. |
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Dwayne loves what he’s doing. He’s eternally thankful to
God for giving him the talent to do something he loves..
Dwayne’s goal is to keep the tradition of folk pottery alive in
the hearts and homes of people for generations to come.
God for giving him the talent to do something he loves..
Dwayne’s goal is to keep the tradition of folk pottery alive in
the hearts and homes of people for generations to come.
