Although the eminent folklorist, Henry Glassie, describes Hewitt as, “A great American master,” Mark Hewitt was actually born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, and is the son and grandson of directors of Spode, manufacturers of fine china wares. As a student at Bristol University in the early 1970's, Hewitt read Bernard Leach's, "A Potter's Book," and decided to become a studio potter rather than an industrial manager. This decision led to a three year apprenticeship with Michael Cardew in Cornwall, England, and later another with Todd Piker in Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut, where he met his wife, Carol. In 1983 they moved to Pittsboro, North Carolina, and set up their pottery. His work has been featured in the Smithsonian Magazine and on the cover of American Craft magazine, he has written extensively in the ceramic press and he has exhibited in London, New York, and Tokyo, as well as throughout the US. Hewitt is well represented in museum and private collections. He and Nancy Sweezy co-curated the highly-regarded exhibition, “The Potter’s Eye: Art and Tradition in North Carolina Pottery,” at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2005. Hewitt and his work were featured extensively in the nationwide PBS TV series, "Craft in America," and he recently had two major exhibitions of his big pots, one at the Nasher Museum, at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, the other at the Ogden Museum in New Orleans. He demonstrated at the 2011 International Ceramics festival in Aberystwyth, Wales. He is currently President of the Board of Directors at the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, North Carolina.
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