Sam Dougherty is a North Carolina artist focused on making functional handcrafted pottery and dinnerware. After graduating from Warren Wilson College and seven years working alongside his father, sculptor Patrick Dougherty, he began a full-time vocation as a studio potter.

Sam's pottery studio sits near Hanging Rock State Park in Stokes County, where he works with a wood-fired kiln built using bricks salvaged from A.R. Cole's historic kiln in Sanford, NC. Each pottery piece Sam makes carries unique marks from the flames and ash.

Functional pottery brings art into the home, interacting with viewers in understated, comforting, and personal ways. My goal is to make pottery that becomes someone's favorite cup, one they subconsciously choose each morning. 

I'm drawn to clay surfaces' small intricacies, the subtle mineral interactions as crystals form when glaze cools, or the differences between identical pots simply because of their kiln placement. I enjoy clay's responsiveness, its readiness to be formed, altered, and recycled.