Who Is Christopher Williams?

Christopher Williams

    I am Christopher Williams, I first had a love of pottery when I was going to LPHS.  However it was a little to late I took "3d art" in the last semester of my senior year.  It was then that I made the big golden head, and I knew I was addicted.  It was to late to do anything or even change my college.  I went to a technical college and found my self staving to create anything artistic.  I found out I really can't draw or paint, but I really wanted to work with clay.  But I was unable to find anywhere to work on it in the Chicago Area.  I transferred to a great school up in Ashland Wisconsin, Northland.  I took an art class but there was no level one pottery classes but the teacher did allow me to spend some time in the studio.  I made two pieces the first was another head even larger, I was going to make it look like bronze but at that time I did not know the difference between cone 06 and 6.  So the big giant head turned black due to the over firing, still it looks interesting even if it was not what I intended.  This is also the place where I saw Raku for the first time, I loved it, I even checked books on the subject, I found the works of Christopher Wolfe, a great Raku artist. I knew what I was going to be focusing on when I got back from summer break.

    Unfortunately, the little money I had for school dried up, and loans would not come close to paying it and scholarships were not to be found.  So I never returned back to school, which by the way is where I left one of my pieces but I think it was cracked or something anyway.

    So I get to New Mexico, and start to look for work so that I can return to school full time, but one thing after another stopped me.  I began to work full time, got an apartment with a good friend, bought a new car.  But pottery was always reappearing in my dreams and passions.  I tried to make pottery on my own just as I had in Indiana and Wisconsin  but the clay was just going from to wet to bone dry before I could even get a third up the pot or mask.  I just could not make it work, the air was just to dry.  So I gave up again.

    However with the tragedy of September 11th, I fell in a great depression.  Nothing was cheering me up.  I could not see past the dark clouds of the horizon.  So I began to try a few different things to express my creativity and I decide I really wanted to work on  pottery again.  Unfortunately it would take months to enroll in school and I could not wait.  So I send out several e-mails one was to NMclay.com it took about a week for them to reply.  They suggested two places and the first was Coyote Clay.  I them up and spoke with Martin Butt.  He told me about the different time they had classes and told me pretty much what ever I was interested in they would try and teach me.  

    So I checked them out, they were somewhat in the middle of no where but it looked interesting so I signed up.  Just by chance, and the fact it was on my day off, I had signed up with Pat a hand builder and some one who prefers Raku to most of the other options out there.  I took me a few weeks to get the hang of the place to see what was what, and how to use tools I had never used before.  I found by using a slab roller and an extruder I was able to make my pottery before it turned leather hard.  I even got pat to give me a lesson on throwing that never really turned out.  So pat taught me how to Raku and offered me a few little steps when ever I would run into a wall. 

    I am now a studio member and have been since the end of January I am working on several different styles, some drifting into the odd and bizarre, others perfecting form via by my slump mold vessels.  I am attempting to return to school this fall if I can find a way to pay my bills.  I have even recently entered an art contest (which I have no chance of being shown in) and I am doing a small art show in September at a local Church.  I can't tell you where I am going from here but hopefully you will be able to watch it here at this web site.

Christopher Williams

04/01/2002