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At this point in our conversation, I felt it fitting to voice my curiosity about Chris’ heritage and the obvious Hepworth artistic genes. By this I mean Dame Barbara Hepworth, Chris’ great, great Aunt. I wondered if this family connection had swayed him towards the 3-dimensional arts? Amazingly, his answer was “I didn’t know who she was or anything about her work until I was at College. It wasn’t talked about in the family, really. She was just my Dad’s Auntie Barbara”. I realise, of course that Chris and Barbara’s lives only crossed for 4 or 5 years, but to be a Hepworth, have a creative gift and not to make the link until his mid-20’s? Astonishing! I guess this just affirmed for Chris that his natural artistic gifts were as deep as he’d always felt them, in his genes. I’ve looked at family photos and books on Dame Barbara’s life and there’s an undeniable family resemblance between her and Chris, not to mention they both seem to have a cigarette as a semi-permanent fixture! It is understandable, of course, that Chris feels strongly that he wants his work to be judged on its own merits, and not to be merely seen as an extension of the Hepworth name, or worse, overshadowed by his famous ancestor. However, facts are facts, and they are related, but I feel that it’s a testament to the man that given all Dame Barbara Hepworth stands for artistically, to Chris; she’s just “Auntie Barbara”.

Chris went on to pass his Advanced level exam in Art and Design (3-Dimensional) to Grade A. During this time, because of his overpowering enthusiasm, he was also studying at night school to gain a further qualification and experience at the wheel. He passed this night school exam in 3-Dimsensional design to Grade A*. During his time at evening classes, Chris was first introduced to the firing process of raku. Meaning ‘instant joy’, that’s exactly the emotion that Chris describes when he first witnessed a raku firing demonstration, “Compared with the normal glaze firings which could take days to see the results, raku was instant, which appealled to me. It had a dangerous, boy-ish element to it, with the naked flames and being hands on at 1000 degrees C – that was exciting!” From what I can gather, however, it wasn’t so much ‘instant joy’ in those early years, but instant disappointment for Chris where the results were often just “Black, charred, cracked pots”. Despite this, Chris was invited to help with a raku demonstration at the official unveiling of The Angel of the North and where he committed to persevere with the art of raku. Chris researched and practised whenever he could. He went to Potfest and any other events he could, he read books and Ceramic Review for any inspiration. Chris credits John Wheeldon as being a “huge influence” at that time.