Doug Knotts has been teaching at Gardner-Webb University for some time now. Those students who have had him as their professor know he is willing to go the extra mile to be sure that they have a great experience. Mr. Knotts’s love for the art shows in his classes.

Doug has been doing pottery since 1972. He was a sophomore in college and his major was English. “I decided to switch to an Art major after a couple of ceramic courses,” he said. After graduation, Knotts worked as a park potter in Alabama. It was production, but he was able to teach children that came through the park. He then worked at Toe Rivers Art Council in Mitchell County, NC and after that he joined the NC Visiting Artist Association. He was placed at a Community College and worked at different schools in that area teaching and producing.

Eventually he became known for his bird pots. He got the idea of birds from his Grandfather. “He worked at a hospital and he would carve birds out of wood and give them to the sick children in the hospital. I make bird pots because of those experiences; also to continue to sell pots I needed something different.”

After many years of being a production potter Mr. Knotts got tired of making the same things. “When I first became a production potter I was able to make the same thing and still grow,” he said, “but eventually it got too commercial and I wasn’t interested in selling the same thing over and over again.” Knotts wanted to grow. Currently he is able to grow in his spare time with sculpture and other methods as he teaches at Gardner-Webb University. Doug plans to keep growing and experimenting with different techniques as a potter.