Guest Artist Judges: Bruce & Christine Willis
Watch video/listen to podcast of the artistic journeys of Bruce and Christine Willis - Guest Artist Judges of the Hudson Global Scholars Fine Arts Competition
Christine: Origins in Clay
I am a ceramic artist, and I have been working in clay for the last 52 years. I started when I was 17, very much by chance, on a high school trip to the island of Sifnos in the Cycladic Aegean. There I met a master traditional potter who had spent his entire life making functional ceramics.
Although I had grown up going to many different museums in Greece and seeing pottery, and although I always used handmade mugs and plates, it had never occurred to me that a human being actually created these objects. Something clicked in me, and I knew I did not want to be a doctor, lawyer, or businesswoman. I liked clay, and the feeling stayed with me.
Eventually, I went to the University of California in Santa Cruz and studied ceramics professionally. I have been doing it ever since.
Bruce: Engineering to Clay
My background is actually in engineering. I chose engineering because I wanted to help solve problems in the world through technological advancement. After finishing my degree, life took a large turn when I returned to Greece for mandatory military service. Around that time, my mother received a large pottery order from a restaurant, and that became my first meaningful contact with clay.
As a child, my mother always gave us clay to play with, but this was the first time I studied the techniques seriously. Clay is full of unknowns: moisture levels, glazing conditions, firing temperatures, and many other variables. You can repeat the exact same process and get completely different results. From an engineering perspective, the challenge of standardizing these variables fascinated me.
For the past five years, this challenge has kept me deeply engaged. I now run my own studio in Thessaloniki, teaching 60–70 students each week—wheel throwing, coils, slabs, and pinch pots—and we fire everything to stoneware temperatures over 1,200°C.
Alongside this, our family business produces both functional and decorative ceramics for restaurants, hotels, coffee shops, interior designers, architects—anyone who appreciates our work. Being part of this judging panel excites me, and I’m eager to see what inspires the students.
Christine: Art as a Lifelong Discipline
Art is a lifelong discipline. Every day you show up, and whatever you do might work—or it might not—but you keep going. People ask if I’m still working with clay. I never stopped. It pulls at me constantly.
One of my earliest major projects was a large 2-by‑3‑meter mural commissioned in 1985 for the Princeton Hall dining room at the American Farm School. I created 300 tiles, each about 15 centimeters square, dried them slowly so they wouldn’t warp, and arranged them on the mosaic-tiled floor of my studio. I painted with clay on top of them to create a three‑dimensional mural filled with students, cows, tractors, buildings—the entire life of the school. It took three months, and the piece is still there today.
Nearly fifty years later, I am working on a new project inspired by Eugene Ionesco’s play The Rhinoceros. The play, rooted in the theater of the absurd, explores how individuals react to the ridiculousness of life. I decided to combine the female body—a frequent subject in my work—with a rhinoceros head.
I first visited the zoo in Chicago to study a rhinoceros up close: its size, shape, horn, and symbolism. I sculpted a rhino for the first time, then explored how to attach the head to a woman’s body. I am now on my third and largest attempt, a 60‑centimeter sculpture. Creating something new takes repetition, patience, and letting the work evolve. The first version rarely looks the way you imagined. Over time—sometimes years—you grow to see it differently. Art evolves, and so do we.
Bruce: Iteration and Artistic Growth
In ceramics, people often distinguish between functional and decorative work. Functional pieces can still be art, and artistic pieces still require technical skill.
For me, art is never fully finished. It is an iterative process. You try something once, then again, then again with slight changes. You may make the same piece ten times, each version shaped by new ideas or adjustments. And with each creation, you change as well. The process reshapes the artist.
Christine: Inspiration from Observation and History
Observation, imagination, and emotion are central to my creative decisions. When I was growing up, my parents took the four of us to museums across Greece—Crete, Knossos, Corfu, everywhere we traveled. Even at ages 10 to 18, I was absorbing things I didn’t consciously understand yet. Those experiences entered my world and still inspire me.
I am particularly drawn to the Neolithic period. I recently completed a course in Romania in an area called Cucuteni, known for small female ceramic idols. These people were often nomads without permanent housing, yet they created figurines for worship, meaning, and connection. Humans have always needed to reach beyond themselves.
We are fortunate to live outside a city, surrounded by olive trees, animals, and nature. Stepping outside into that environment is deeply inspiring. It is important to look at nature and ask how we fit into it, and how our art can reflect that relationship.
Bruce: What to Do When You Feel Stuck
Making art is deeply personal. Each person must find something that resonates emotionally—something they love, dislike, or are drawn to. Anything that creates a strong emotional response can be a starting point.
I often reflect on humanity from a broad perspective: we once lived as nomads, then built communities, then global societies with fast travel and technology. Today we think we are advanced, but ten thousand years from now, people may see us as primitive. Artists help imagine the future. Progress often begins with someone’s dream, which others then embrace and bring to life.
It is also essential to remember that we are part of nature—a living ecosystem we depend on. Recognizing this helps clarify what matters and where to focus our creative energy.
Bruce: The Role of Mistakes
I love mistakes. I embrace them. Students often become upset when a piece collapses or bends, but I tell them to look at the error and ask: how can this become the highlight?
One student made a mug she was proud of, then dropped it so the form bent forward. She was devastated. But she looked again and realized it resembled a figure bending. She created a braided handle like flowing hair. When decorated and fired, it became one of her favorite pieces.
A mistake is only a mistake if you choose to see it that way. You can throw the piece away and start over, or you can embrace the new direction and let it shape your work.
Christine: Everyone Can Learn
People often tell me they could never learn pottery. I always say: everyone is an artist. Many people were discouraged by a teacher early in life, but everyone can learn if they want to. It requires discipline—like learning a musical instrument. You practice every day.
Mistakes are essential to learning—in art and life. The important part is getting past the fear of being wrong. Use the mistake to grow, and then do it again, better. Art teaches us how to live: how to overcome mistakes instead of quitting.
Christine: Advice for "Dear Future Me"
Artist statements help someone who doesn’t know you understand your story, where you come from, and why you create what you create. Showing your process—from first idea to final piece—helps others see your evolution.
Young people today grow up in a very different world from the one I grew up in. We didn’t even have a television in my house, much less smartphones or YouTube. The mind of an 18‑year‑old today works differently. I’m curious to see how young people think, because they are the future. They will inherit a world full of challenges. Creative, out‑of‑the‑box thinking is essential.
Bruce: Reflection and Future Growth
Growth rarely happens when life is easy. When things go wrong—when you’re frustrated or unhappy—that is when you reexamine your situation and decide what to change. When thinking about your future self, reflect on moments when you were in a good place and when you were not. Compare them. Something valuable may emerge—or it may simply be an interesting exercise—but it is worth trying.