This is a striking water jar by Christopher Youngblood.  The piece is coil-built and has an elegant shape.  The center of the jar has a deeply carved avanyu.  It swirls around the jar, rising from near the base towards the rim. There are oval-shaped “flower petals” around the neck and base of the jar.  They are polished red or slipped with mica or black mica. There are sixteen around the base and twelve around the neck.  The jar has four different colorations giving it a dramatic visual appearance.  The water jar was also traditionally fired.  It is signed on the bottom in the clay, “Chris Youngblood”.

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