February 2025 3-D Featured Artist Christopher Christian

Sanibel resident Christopher Christian was an architect handling multi-national projects for more than 35 years. Now that he has retired, he is able to spend more time pursuing his interests in pottery, cycling, volunteering with the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and enjoying Sanibel community events.

“I was originally introduced to ceramics as part of a broader-based education in the arts to complete my graduate degree in architecture,” said Christopher. “I was taken with the simple nature of a medium that transforms and reacts to heat and fire from something that washes away with water to something that can last thousands of years. It was a contrast to the complexities of building design. I also enjoy the visualization of a piece before I begin and the directness of the movement of clay in response to my hands.”

He works with both Raku and electric kiln firing methods on wheel-throne and hand-formed pieces to produce an array of items such as bowls, vases, platters, canisters and hanging vessels. Christopher often carves and texturizes his creations, drawing inspiration from his island environment. He is interested in form, texture, positive and negative figure ground studies and experiments with color through a combination of glazes.