Chapel Hill pottery studio and tea maker team up to showcase local community of artists

Local artists Julie Berkowitz and Christine Parks are hosting their second annual “Meet the Makers” event on Saturday, Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Camellia Forest Tea Gardens. 

The two are friends and neighbors that connected through social media when Berkowitz saw Parks, an artisan tea maker who founded Camellia Forest Nursery as a family business in Chapel Hill in 2006, who posted excitedly about a new rose tea she was working on.

“Christine and I connected through Instagram, saw that we were neighbors and were just kind of hoping to bring our community together," Berkowitz said. "She was really interested in sharing her tea process and I make pottery, so we thought it was a good fit."

Berkowitz has been making pottery since college, and teaches classes at her studio in Chapel Hill. Parks wants to share her passion for crafting tea and her experience with other local, independent growers. 

They bonded over a shared love of teaching, and Berkowitz said they both originally saw this as an opportunity to break out of their comfort zones and hold an intimate gathering where they got together with friends and neighbors to have tea and share art. 

“This year’s event is special in that we had such a good time last year that we’re trying to bring people out for it again,” Parks said. 

This year, for their second annual event, they’re bringing in new makers — a potter and local beekeeper that Berkowitz knows from the local community of artists.

The beekeeper, John Cowan from Ninja Bee Apiary, will be selling honey from his hives in Durham. The ceramic artist, Sarah Gruber, will be selling hand-built and wheel-thrown flower vases, tea vessels, and art pieces.

"I’m looking forward to a lovely day with the other local makers in a beautiful setting, surrounded by camellias, drinking hot tea and honey and eating snacks," Gruber said. 

Berkowitz said the makers who are coming out will be selling products that are very popular amongst those doing holiday shopping, and that it will be a good opportunity for locals looking for gifts or just looking to learn more about what they make.

“In Carrboro and Chapel Hill, we’re in our own little bubble," Berkowitz said. "I think what Christine offers is very unique to this community, because she grows her own tea and it’s not something a lot of people know about or know how to do. And then my pottery, I mean, we’re in North Carolina, so there’s clay everywhere.”

Parks agreed, saying that she’s eager to share her knowledge with people who want to learn more about the tea they’ll be sampling at the Meet the Makers event. 

“Not many people realize that all tea comes from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant,” she said.

Parks has a book coming out next year, which will reach a national audience, but still feels that connecting with the local community is one of the most important things she can do.

“(The event) came about very organically,” she said. “One of the best things about it for me is trying to build community with what we’re doing.”

arts@dailytarheel.com