Christopher Youngblood creates intricately carved vessels which reflect a perfect balance of matte and polished surfaces with intricately carved designs. This is a classic piece bowl with the water serpent (avanyu) as the design. The avanyu is part of Santa Clara culture and is part of a story where it saves the village from a flood.  Chris has a distinctive style of avanyu which can be noted as the bowl is turned.  There are swirls and sharp lightning designs which make of the body of the avanyu.  The complex carving adds to the difficulty of the piece.  The bowl is traditionally fired a deep black.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay.  I’m pleased that I have been working with Chris since 2010 when I wrote the first article on him for Native People’s magazine.  It is exciting to see how his work has progressed over the years and the awards for his pottery, including the 2104 “Best of Pottery” at Santa Fe Indian Market.  He was featured in the book, Spoken Through Clay, and continues to be one of the leading young potters working today.