There have been very few constants that have endured the last quarter century in Maggie Valley. While Joey’s Pancake house still serves up breakfast to the masses and the town’s politics remain notoriously contentious, the storefronts that line Maggie’s sidewalks continue an almost constant succession as last season’s establishments close their doors and new owners open up.

However, through out the last 25 years of ebb and flow of commerce in the valley and infighting among its elected leaders, Terance Painter has quietly established himself as one of the region’s premiere potters working out of the quaint Soco Road cabin that houses Different Drummer Pottery. Painter opened the studio in June 1980 after learning his craft at Western Carolina University. He has been turning out quality clay pieces ever since. Given Maggie’s decline as a tourist destination over the years, one might be tempted to say that Painter succeeded in spite of his location, but Painter insists it is because “Highway 19 has been very good to me. It seems whether people stay in Gatlinburg, Asheville or Blowing Rock, a large portion of them seem to pass by here. My sign and my building have been my best advertising over the years,” said Painter.

Indeed, while most of Painter’s customers found him while they were visiting Maggie Valley, many now return expressly to visit Painter.

“I have people who come in the shop who say they were here 20 years ago and bought some pottery and decided to come back to the area to see if I was still in business. That is just a really good feeling that people would remember me after all these years,” said Painter.

Take a look around Painter’s studio, and it is easy to see why people would remember him and his work. There is a simplicity and elegance to the plates, platters, vases and goblets that line the studios shelves that reveals an Oriental influence. While Painter adorns many of his pieces with ornate handles and even textured landscape reliefs, the overall look of his pieces is understated.

“I studied with a lot of people who either studied in Japan or have a lot of Chinese and Korean influences. I just soaked up a lot of that sensibility in the way I handle glazes and handle the space. I allow the pieces to speak a little bit more for themselves and not force it,” said Painter.

The colors Painter attains with his homemade glazes also set his work apart. There is a depth to varied hues that give the colored portions of his work an almost three-dimensional effect.

“I like to think that in some of my pieces you almost feel like you can walk back into them,” said Painter.

While the uniqueness and beauty of Painter’s work have provided him with a loyal base of collectors (some have been known to travel several hundred miles just to replace a broken coffee mug), his ability and technique did not come easy.

“In the early days, I smashed a lot of pots in frustration. I came from a painting background and glazes are so different from painting. The colors are all skewed. I have a green glaze that is pink when it is applied to the pot and I have a burgundy glaze that is green. It is very difficult to pre-visualize to the extent that you can predict the results. But, sometimes some of your best pieces are pieces you could not predict. Sometimes you are just given these gifts and you don’t entirely understand where they come from,” said Painter.

Painter has continued to refine and evolve his style and technique over the last 25 years (the textured landscape elements mentioned earlier is a style he implemented in the last year) but has remained true enough to his core sensibilities that one can easily recognize his work whether it is from 1985 or 2005. While Painter loves to experiment with new ideas, he is also aware of the need to keep his look consistent for those who collect his work.

“I try out new ideas in the slow winter months, if I can get one or two ideas I can work with, that’s a fast enough pace to keep me interested and slow enough pace so my customers can keep up,” said Painter.

While his work has garnered the attention and admiration of collectors from around the nation and would probably command a higher premium in a more cosmopolitan location, Painter has no intentions of leaving Maggie Valley.

“People have told me I could get three times the price for my work in Atlanta, but then I would have to live in Atlanta. I really love this part of the country and it’s the natural assets of the region that have sustained my business,” said Painter.