Christopher Youngblood creates intricately carved vessels that reflect a perfect balance of matte and polished surfaces with intricately carved designs.  This jar is carved is deeply carved and highly polished making it a gem in clay!  The jar hs two roadrunners, one on each side.  Chris began his career with creative bird designs and it is exciting to see him back using them as the imagery on his pottery.  The roadrunners are creatively carved in motion.  Spiraling up from the base of the jar are 10 melon ribs, six of which reach the rim.  They give the birds a sense of motion!  The polishing on the jar is exceptional, with a glass-like surface.  The piece was traditionally fired a deep black.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Chris Youngblood”.  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.  He was featured in the book, Spoken Through Clay, and continues to be one of the leading young potters working today.

Chris has said of his pottery:

“I’ve had generations of people before me who have had to learn the hard way. I’ve had that information given to me without having to go through all the struggles. But, I would say on the flip side, having someone so technically advanced as your teacher (Nancy Youngblood), let alone your mother, it’s hard. The expectations are a lot higher.  I’ve learned that now, I never think it’s done. I keep going until I cannot find anything I can refine or add to the piece. To achieve an ever-higher level of precision takes a lifetime. ’s not something you learn, it’s something you live.”  Christopher Youngblood, Spoken Through Clay