Hamilton Williams Gallery & Studio

Hamilton Williams Gallery & Studio We feature fine crafts from artisans across North Carolina and the Appalachian region in addition to the distinctive original pottery of Hamilton Williams.

Hamilton Williams Gallery & Studio is a craft gallery featuring the fine craft work of artisans from Western North Carolina, the Appalachian Mountain region, and beyond. The gallery sits adjacent to the production pottery studio of resident potter, Hamilton Williams, where visitors can often see pottery made daily.

Spent a bit of quiet time texturing vases while mulling over the results of my latest glaze firing. There are too many r...
09/01/2026

Spent a bit of quiet time texturing vases while mulling over the results of my latest glaze firing. There are too many results for one post, so look for more focused updates through the week.

New work in the shop by Lauren Jennings! Beautiful leaf-resist pieces and her ever-popular mushroom cap mugs!
08/25/2026

New work in the shop by Lauren Jennings! Beautiful leaf-resist pieces and her ever-popular mushroom cap mugs!

Don't forget to come out for this evening's art crawl! Find local art, excellent company, and some good snacks. Today, T...
08/20/2026

Don't forget to come out for this evening's art crawl! Find local art, excellent company, and some good snacks. Today, Thursday, Aug 20, 5-7pm

Over the past several years, one of my most cherished glaze colors became more difficult to use and less reliable in its...
08/18/2026

Over the past several years, one of my most cherished glaze colors became more difficult to use and less reliable in its results. Moody Blues is a dark, flowing blue that shifts from light pale blue to dark purple-blue depending on thickness and movement, and it breaks to a warm earth tone over edges and texture.

As it became more problematic due to changes in materials over the years, both in the chemical composition of materials and in what materials remain available, customers began to see less and less of it in the gallery.

Testing for a new version of Moody Blues has been ongoing, but I entered a more intensive phase of testing a few months ago to finish out the effort and get it back in the gallery. The result is what you see here, dozens of tests narrowed down to two versions of Moody Blues, resulting from different chemical approaches.

I mixed larger batches of these glazes and used them extensively in the last firing to see how they performed at greater scale. Version V8 (on the left) is noticeably easier to apply than version Vard-3 (on the right), but when seen on pieces in the gallery, the two are very hard to tell apart. Testing will continue, but at this point I am simply fine-tuning the color and making it easier to apply. For all intents and purposes, Moody Blues is back in action. You'll see growing collections of Moody Blues and Mixed Ash (which uses Moody Blues as a component) on your future visits to the shop.

As testing for Moody Blues intensified, I began to develop some completely new surfaces and colors as well. Those I will share with you next month, when they are a little further along.

Address

403 E Union Street
Morganton, NC
28655

Opening Hours

Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+18284381595

Website

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