Colorful cartoon dragon toy sits on snow, pink body with blue spots and purple snout; striped yellow tail arches upward in a wintry outdoor scene.

Artist Christopher Tully

Fall 2009

by Mike Barker

Above: A colorful clay relief kitty by Christopher Tully.

Artist Christopher Tully does two unusual things with epoxy in his work. He creates large clay relief scenes with lots of detail made up of many tiles. After they are bisque fired he brushes on epoxy and heats them with a torch so the epoxy penetrates deeply into the porous clay. This creates an extremely strong surface that still has great detail. He then applies a primer and paints it with acrylics and a clear coat. Another method he uses is to first apply fiberglass cloth to a carved panel then add details like plants or animals to the surface with a mixture of epoxy and powdered clay. He says he doesn’t need to worry about shrinkage and the details are very strong so he just primes and paints it like any other piece.

An inflatable sculpture features a pink serpentine form coiled around a brown tree trunk with green foliage and purple bulbs. White birds perch on its coils inside a brick atrium.

Clay diorama of a jungle: leaves host a green frog, a spotted frog, a yellow snake, and a brown tree stump with a purple creature; all are molded and perched.

Christopher Tully painting some of his critters.

An artisan workshop scene: a white castle-like sculpture rests on a wooden platform; a man sits at a table with tools and a light, surrounded by plaster fragments and scaffolding.

Tully became a full-time sculptor after studying ceramics at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. His work can be found in galleries across the country. Today he works on larger more public pieces, which can be found in nature centers, hospitals,and public libraries. To see more of Tully’s artwork, visit www.christophertully.com.

—Mike Barker