In the hills of North Carolina, where the earth provides a natural palette of various clays, brothers Brad and Bryan Caviness have turned disaster into artistic innovation. Their studio, BC Clay Art, specializes in “worlds in jars”—broken pottery vessels revealing intricate miniature scenes of ancient historical sites within their fractured walls.
Their journey began with what most would consider a catastrophe. “It started with a kiln accident,” Brad explains. “The fire exits were still closed from the last firing. This caused every jar in the kiln to create a hole on one side. They looked amazing, and it took a while of looking at them before the idea of building inside came to us. The glow from inside the broken jar was the inspiration starting point.”
What makes BC Clay Art unique isn’t just their artistic vision, but the brotherly bond underlying their creative process. “Since we have made art together all our lives, we can finish each other’s thoughts and ideas,” says Brad. Their complementary skills create a natural partnership: “Bryan’s better at straight lines and tiny details; where I do a lot of the landscape rocks and stone walls.”
The Caviness brothers don’t simply create pottery—they recreate history. “Both of us love ancient history and sites from around the world,” Brad shares. Their commitment to authenticity extends to their techniques. “We are lucky to live in North Carolina that has so many types and colors of clays,” Brad notes. “We can usually find a color that matches what we need to reproduce a jar from an ancient site.”
The brothers don’t just mimic historical pottery’s appearance—they recreate the processes: “If they hand coiled the jar from that period and culture, then that’s what we do to recreate the pottery in the same way. If the Roman potters pressed the clay in molds, then that’s how we had to reproduce the pottery from that time.”
Behind their work’s beauty lies a poignant message. “Sadly, it is usually the tragedy of losing one of the culture heritage sites by natural disasters or terrorism,” Brad explains. “A part of our collective history has been destroyed. Future generations will not get to experience these sites.” Their art serves as both memorial and preservation.
Creating these detailed worlds requires patience. “Most of our simpler pieces can be made in 3-4 months. But we have spent 3 years working on the more complex pieces,” Brad reveals. “There is just so much detail. We keep working on pieces until we feel we have gotten it right.”
An upcoming artist residency at Mesa Verde National Park represents a rare opportunity for the brothers, who typically work from photographs. “Photos are how we have to sculpt most of the jars from but being able to walk around these ancient cliff dwellings and grain storage sites is extra special,” Brad says. “The unusual view point and angles will give us interesting possibilities scenes inside the jars.”
Their creative process involves organized chaos. “Pieces scattered in every direction. It’s a mess,” Brad describes their typical workday. “We usually work on several jars at once. Waiting for a piece to dry or be made before another piece can be created.”
The most rewarding aspect comes from the emotional connections their art creates. Brad recounts a moving experience: “The WWII vet who bought a French town destroyed during the war. We could tell it meant more to him than words could describe. I felt I finally knew why that jar needed to be made—it was for him and his thought as he viewed it. Seemed to give him comfort, although mixed with an old sadness.”
The Caviness brothers hope their work will inspire appreciation for our shared cultural heritage. “We hope it sparks most people’s love and interest in ancient sites. We also want them to think about how these sites have, and are being lost to history,” Brad says. “Sometimes a photo or a view inside of one of our jars is all that is left of some of these ancient sites.”
For aspiring artists, Brad offers candid advice tinged with humor and wisdom: Well,l my best advice is don’t become an artist. Unless you don’t mind struggling for years until you finally get good enough at sculpting and figure out what other people want to buy. It’s hard and frustrating. But it is inspiring, creative, and fulfilling, and you have complete creative control. So if you still feel like you have to be an artist like we did, then my advice is to make what you like.”
Using broken pottery, the Caviness brothers preserve what was lost and celebrate what remains, transforming destruction into a creative force connecting people to our shared human history.
