Daniel Johnston

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Daniel Johnston, raised on a farm in Randolph County, returned from Thailand with a new approach to creating monumental pots. Back in North Carolina, he built a log shop and an impressive kiln for wood-firing, aiming to produce beautiful pots that are grand in scale, graceful in form, and vibrant in a blend of ash and salt. After mastering his craft and mentoring apprentices, Johnston focused on massive installations. He first created a hundred large jars, lining them along the rough road by his shop and kiln. He then arranged clusters of big pots inside pine frames, resembling corn cribs, to showcase them in four fine galleries. In the culmination of his career's second phase, he constructed an open-air installation at the North Carolina Museum of Art, featuring 178 handmade, wood-fired columns that stretch 350 feet across a slope, maintaining a level horizon despite the terrain's undulations. In 2000, while still an apprentice to Mark Hewitt, Johnston met Henry Glassie, who has researched ceramic traditions globally. Through a series of intimate interviews, Glassie gained insights that allowed him to craft this portrait of Johnston, a young artist creating remarkable pots in the eastern Piedmont of North Carolina.