Master ceramist Nicholas Bernard shapes a lifelong career in clay.

Step inside ceramist Nicholas Bernard’s studio, and you’re instantly overwhelmed by the vast array of pottery in various shapes, patterns and vivid colors that line just about every horizontal surface.

Rainbow-hued balloon-shaped vessels perch precariously next to an army of small vaselike jars decorated in patterns that recall African mudcloth, and 2-foot-tall earthenware jugs share space with delicate 5-inch-tall porcelain yunomis, or Japanese teacups. Outside, more pots fill shelves and line the walkway and fences of the property. The range—and quantity—represent 40 years’ worth of creativity, dedication and hard work.

Bernard cannot remember a time when he wasn’t infatuated with clay. As a child, his mother enrolled him and his brothers in art classes in an effort to harness their unruly energy. He also has memories of his parents bringing home a globular ceramic piece, the shape of which continues to influence his work today. This medium stuck with him through his teens, when the Los Angeles native moved to Connecticut and later attended school in New Hampshire for a brief period. In 1978, Bernard relocated to Phoenix to study ceramics at Arizona State University, receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1981. He’s been a fixture in the Valley’s art scene ever since.

Julie Sasse, chief curator of the Tucson Museum of Art, met Bernard in the early 1980s when she was working for the Elaine Horwitch Gallery in Scottsdale. Bernard, just one year out of college at the time, had managed to get his ceramics represented by the legendary gallerist. “To get your work in Elaine’s galleries was a big deal, because it would put your name in public view,” Sasse says. “The fact that Nick believed in his work and knew that he could produce for her made him stand out, and he has never let anything dissuade him from his goal, which is to make beautiful art.”

In 1985, the artist purchased his Scottsdale home on a dusty plot of land just down the road from the famed Cattle Track Arts Compound. Over the years, he’s transformed the property into a showcase of art and Sonoran splendor. Past the house, nestled within a lush jungle of native flora, is a bright, open studio with large glass doors that look out to the gardens. Inside, Bernard works on his creations, often toiling over pieces in varying stages of completion seven days a week.

Bernard has become known for his brightly colored earthenware pots that continue to be a fixture in museum gift shops and galleries throughout the state. “His palette is extremely unique,” says Peter Held, former director of the Ceramics Research Center at ASU. “The colors he achieves are indicative of the desert environment. I see the same hues in the sunrises, sunsets and desert landscape.”

Vibrant yellows, deep reds, vivid oranges and verdurous greens flow effortlessly around the textured pots, blending seamlessly like the sun’s rays in the evening sky. Bernard points to one of the polychromatic pieces. “This is like six layers of color. It started with orange, and then I just kept laying shades down like watercolors.” Another vessel combines greens and yellows. “It turned a different tone of green after I fired it, so I don’t know if I could ever do that again,” the artist notes. “There are a lot of really lucky accidents here.”

The fantastical silhouettes are important. Perfectly balanced spheroid forms rest almost unfathomably on miniscule bases, their large rotund bodies seemingly floating above the surface. Many sport tall, narrow necks, the circumference of which is no larger than a child’s pinky finger. The contours and colors are immediately identifiable as Bernard’s. “I look at shape and composition,” the artist explains. “The No. 1 thing for me is to make great pots. I’m trying to create this beautiful, absolutely pristine curve, and the narrow top and bottom epitomize elegance.”

“There are a lot of artists for whom their work is a means to an end. But not for Nick. To him, it’s the beginning, the middle and the end.”

—Julie sasse, chief curator, Tucson Museum of Art

Recently, Bernard has returned to his early aesthetics. He opens a copy of a 1986 New York Times Magazine that reveals a two-page image of his black-and-white-striped raku vases, part of a feature on the changing styles of American pottery. Raku is a low-firing process that involves removing the pot from the kiln when it’s red-hot and placing it into containers with combustible materials, such as newspapers. The fiery reaction affects the colors of the glaze. “After that story came out, I made my living creating those raku pots for 15 years,” he says.

For the past two years, Bernard has been developing a series of porcelain vessels that showcases designs similar to his raku ware: neutral hues, bold stripes, tendrils and swirls that are at once Native American, African and even art nouveau.

“Nick’s early work had these wonderful influences from ancient indigenous art forms,” Sasse remarks. “But he evolves. He doesn’t just do the same thing over and over again. He updates it. He’s inspired by his previous pieces, but he may fuse his new creations with subtle changes in the textures and colors.

“He’s very proud of the field he’s in. He’s proud of his medium,” Sasse continues. “There are a lot of artists for whom their work is a means to an end. But not for Nick. To him, it’s the beginning, the middle and the end.”

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