Head to the hills for fall traditional pottery shows and sales

Winton and Rosa Eugene of Cowpens, S.C., will show their wares at the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia’s seventh annual show and sale on Sept. 5. CONTRIBUTED BY FOLK POTTERY MUSEUM OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA

Credit: hpousner

Credit: hpousner

Winton and Rosa Eugene of Cowpens, S.C., will show their wares at the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia’s seventh annual show and sale on Sept. 5. CONTRIBUTED BY FOLK POTTERY MUSEUM OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA

When the first crisp fall-like morning sneaks in, just as Atlantans have abandoned all hope that the dog days of summer will ever end, the thoughts of many metro denizens turn to mountain day trips or weekend escapes.

Northeast Georgia being a hotbed for the folk pottery craft tradition dating to the early 1800s, the potters put on shows and sales and festivals as soon as the leaves start to turn.

Here’s a look at the first of five upcoming sales:

Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia’s Show and Sale

Marking its ninth anniversary, the Southeast’s only museum devoted exclusively to this folk tradition will host its seventh annual show and sale, featuring folk and studio potters from Georgia, Alabama and North and South Carolina, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 5.

More than a dozen Georgia folk potters will be presented in the gymnasium of the adjoining Sautee Nacoochee Center, 4 miles southeast of Helen, while some 15 other potters will set up booths on the grounds.

A variety of 19th-century crafts will be demonstrated, and a blacksmith forge will be operating. A restored northeast Georgia slave cabin will be open, as will the Sautee Nacoochee Center’s history museum and two galleries of local art. Old-time mountain music will be played throughout the day, and barbecue will be available.

“Original Dancing Quails” (circa 1985), a hand-built, low-fired, incised ceramic vessel by Joel Queen with Louise Bigmeat Maney, is included in the touring exhibit “Ancient Forms, Modern Minds: Contemporary Cherokee Ceramics,” opening Sept. 4 at the Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia.

Credit: hpousner

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Credit: hpousner

Starting Sept. 4, visitors also can check out the exhibit "Ancient Forms, Modern Minds: Contemporary Cherokee Ceramics." Organized by the Asheville (N.C.) Museum of Art, it will remain on view through Nov. 1.

Admission will be waived Sept. 5 for all attractions. 283 Ga. 255 in Sautee Nacoochee, a quarter-mile north of the Ga. 17 junction. 706-878-3300, www.folkpotterymuseum.com.

To read about the other four sales, click here.