Chris started working with clay at the age of sixteen and spent two years at Art College studying ceramics and jewellery. He went on to be trained as a production thrower by Hugh West at West Pottery. This training provided him with the ability to work accurately and precisely with clay.

Today, he makes one-off thrown pieces, which are fired using the Raku process. His main work consists of Copper Matt fumed pots and a range of white glazed and naked raku pieces.

He uses a white stoneware body to which molochite is added to help with the thermal shock. This is fired in an electric kiln to bisc at 1050c. The raku work is fired in various kilns, which he built himself, and is fired by propane to approximately 1050c. He uses a copper matt recipe, which he developed over many years with frits and materials. Some of these things were found next to his workshop in a redundant copper and tungsten mine.

The copper matt process is notoriously difficult to control and Chris has spent many years perfecting a recipe and firing process that enables him to consistently achieve strong, vivid colours. He pushes this process to its limits and sometimes will fire a piece several times to achieve the desired results.

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Raku Bottle

£75.00

A stunning handthrown raku bottle by Chris Hawkins.

Each of Chris’s pots has a unique pattern within the glaze. Raku is a chance occurrence process where the piece is rapidly fired to around 1000c and then placed in a container of wood shavings which rapidly combust. The heat and flames react with the clay and glaze, drawing the metal within the glaze up to the surface and creating the stunning iridescent colours seen in Chris’s work.

Raku fired copper matt bottle.

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