March 2026 - William Blair

As a multidisciplinary artist, William moves seamlessly between crafting clay vessels, painting surreal dreamscapes, and running a business designing huge outdoor water features where stone, plants, and water interact harmoniously. "My first love is the outdoors, and that love influences all that I create, whether it's a backyard waterfall or a vase with leaf impressions and a surprising copper and green glaze." As a family man with a physically demanding job, William says he's forced to be "a night owl" in his studio to pursue his pottery and painting. "I don't need much sleep, but I need to keep experimenting and learning." William's work celebrates saturated colors, unusual textures, and unique patterns and designs. Growing up in the small town of Ephrata, Washington, William was the second eldest of four boys raised in a modest home. "Because finances were tight, if we wanted a toy or whatever, our parents usually urged us to make it ourselves. We became handy, learning to fix or create things at an early age." Art supplies were rare, but the yearning to create was ever-present. "I saw a pottery wheel in a catalog when I was about eight," he begins, smiling at the memory. "I begged my mom, and some weeks later, she surprised me with it. But it was a cheap, toy wheel, and it broke almost immediately. Still, it planted the idea of what could be." In an art class in middle school, William finally laid hands on a professional-grade pottery wheel. "It was like discovering something I didn't know I was missing. The sensation of shaping clay, the rhythm of the wheel-it woke something up in me."

After high school, William focused on his landscape business and raising his two boys. "Artgot left aside, but ten years ago, my younger brother bought a pottery wheel for his girlfriend. She wasn't interested, so I asked if I could use it. He said, 'Sure, but I'll need it back eventually.' Let's just say I still have it!" William says with a laugh. Armed with that wheel and a kiln found on Craigslist, William returned to ceramics and never looked back.

Through countless hours of repetition and experimentation, his craft evolved-a labor of precision and spontaneity. "I'll go through phases," he says. "One week, it's all about the form of large salad bowls. Next, I might focus on intricate textures for platters. The variety keeps me inspired." His glazes are where food-safe functionality meets artistry. "Glazing is like alchemy," William shares. "The piece comes alive as colors interact in unexpected ways under the heat."

For those stepping onto their creative path, William offers simple wisdom: "Stay curious. Don't be afraid of failure-it's where the best lessons are. Trust your ideas, even if they seem unconventional, and always keep moving towards what inspires you. I once painted a beautiful Southwestern landscape on a platter and intended to seal it with a clear glaze. But I grabbed the wrong jar, and the whole scene turned blue! That platter's still with me as a reminder to double-check everything!"

While clay was his first love, painting became William's pandemic silver lining. Inspired by the quiet of lockdowns, he decided to try his son's abandoned acrylic paints. "I watched someone on TV say they were taking up painting during lockdown, and I thought, 'Why not me?" Initially inspired by the ever-changing clouds of Central Oregon, his work grew into something entirely his own-surreal oil landscapes driven by imagination rather than reality. "Painting is an escape for me," William says. "I close my eyes and dream up places that feel magical-places that don't exist, but maybe could."

A pivotal moment in his artistic development came from Don Nutt of Caribou Trail Studios. "My mom, who always encouraged me, gifted me two lessons with him," William says. "Those four hours changed everything. He helped me see light and color and oils in ways I'd never considered and gave me the confidence to take risks." To learn more about William's process and art, visit William Blair Pottery on Facebook, where he shares entertaining and instructive videos with a down-to-earth authenticity.