In the quiet hours before her business opens for the day, Ashley Merklinger perches at a long table crafted by her grandfather, forming a vase by hand. The English major-turned potter deftly molds the clay into a dragon shape, forming a wide mouth that will hold blooms, and carving intricate scales that will shimmer after firing — a nod to her love of fantasy literature. Tall moss-green walls surround her and, above, whimsical string lights float over her head like stars. For a moment, she feels like she’s in her own little world. Soon, her studio of solitude — which also happens to be the newest location of her business, Bookworm Pottery & Co. — will be filled with eager Wilmington residents, ready to learn her craft.

Merklinger’s current cozy spot is the result of a years-long journey that began in 2021. She had graduated from UNC Wilmington the year prior with an English degree. Like many, the pandemic pushed her toward rediscovering activities that felt tangible and real, and she remembered the joy she felt in the pottery classes she took for her arts minor in college. She found a barely-used wheel on Facebook Marketplace and put it in the closet of her apartment’s balcony. “I was kind of like Harry Potter,” laughs Merklinger, referring to the fictional wizard forced to live in a tiny cupboard, “except I chose to spend hours in that closet at the wheel.”

The centerpiece of Bookworm Pottery & Co.’s new location is a table crafted by Merklinger’s grandfather. photograph by Allison Eding of Lightbloom Photography

Around this time, a friend mentioned that Wilmington’s Cargo District had an empty space available. A few days later, someone from the district called Merklinger to see if she was interested in the vacant room. “I didn’t have a dollar, but I decided to tour it anyway,” she says. What she saw wasn’t pretty: bottles of chemicals on the ground. Tools scattered everywhere. Frayed butcher flaps instead of doors. Yet in that moment, Merklinger maintained a potter’s mindset: She knew the space could be shaped into something beautiful.

Since then, Merklinger’s business has expanded from that first small studio to The Cozy Bookwyrm, an arts store and cozy reading space in the South Front District, and, as of this April, a brand-new workshop space housed in the Cargo District, where it all began. Across her studios, Merklinger employs 14 potters who teach a variety of classes from mug-making to sculpting whimsical creatures. Bookworm Pottery also offers memberships for those who may not have equipment in their homes but want to hone their craft. “It’s like a gym membership but better,” Merklinger says, who enjoys opening up the space to potters of all skill levels.

Ashley Merklinger (left) always encourages her pottery students to try something new. photograph by Allison Eding of Lightbloom Photography

“I’m especially excited about our new studio because it gives us the ability to expand to other types of workshops beyond pottery,” Merklinger says. Bookworm Pottery has already collaborated with several nearby businesses to host creative courses: pasta-making with What the Fork Food, candle-pouring with Rivenbark & Co., and stained-glass classes with Stained and Confused. For Merklinger, this speaks volumes to the collaborative nature of Wilmington’s creative network. “My Papa crafted the benches in our workshop, and my family has helped me so much since the beginning. I’m constantly reminded that every creative endeavor requires community. That’s what we’re cultivating, here.”

A few hours after Merklinger’s dragon is shaped and ready for the kiln, her studio sings with chatter and the whish of pottery wheels spinning round and round. Now, Merklinger isn’t sitting at the table — she’s walking around the studio, glancing behind her students as they form their own vases of different shapes and sizes. While Merklinger loves crafting her own pots, teaching carries a different kind of joy. “Our students come in prepared to do this really vulnerable thing: try something new,” she says. “But I like to think that we’re teaching them how to have grace with themselves. In the end, they create something special and tangible that they can use for years to come.”

Bookworm Pottery & Co.
707 S 16th St, Unit 2
Wilmington, NC 28401
bookwormpotteryco.com