Sedona’s Favorite Art Gallery and Gift Shop

The Village Gallery of Local Artists is excited to feature artist Tom Williams during the month of September. He has been a professional artist for 15 years, primarily focusing on ceramics for the last five. The gallery will hold a reception on Friday, September 4th from 5-8pm.
Williams became a full time artist when he and his wife Kris left the bustle of southern California and moved to Williams, AZ. Soon after settling in, the couple helped found the Gallery in Williams in 2011 where they both displayed their artwork and helped run the gallery.
Before becoming a ceramicist, Williams made a name for himself in Northern Arizona with his metal sculptures. In 2011 he entered the Flagstaff Recycled art show and won the Elegance award. The following year Williams took Best in Show. In 2014 Williams collaborated with two other artists to create “The Mars Kaleidisphere”, which is on permanent display at the Lowell Observatory. Also that year his work took Best in Show at “It’s Elemental”, a juried show put on by the Flagstaff Arts Council. In 2015 Williams was commissioned to create the awards for the Flagstaff Viola awards ceremony.
Williams still does metalwork, but only on a commission basis. Most of the large equipment used to work the metal was sold when he and his wife moved from Williams, AZ to Cottonwood in 2021. Now anything he makes in metal has to be done entirely by hand. Williams explains, “Working with metal was becoming hard on my body, and so I switched to clay.”
Williams has put in many hours studying all facets of ceramics. He took advanced study classes at Yavapai Community College with Thomas Schumacher and Jill Brugler where he dove into researching glazes. Williams says, “I now mix all of my own glazes. This requires enormous amounts of testing because I like layering glazes to come up with results not available any other way.” During this meticulous testing process, Williams created 200 glaze sample tiles.

Always interested in fostering artistic community, Williams offers a six week beginner ceramics class in hand building, ending with glazing and a Raku firing of the student’s projects.

The ceramics that Williams displays at the Village Gallery are rich in color with his multilayered glazes, and some that have striking primary colors with deep texture and whimsical expression. Most of his work is functional, including ceramic vessels, dishes, platters, bowls, cups, and urns.

The public is invited to the Village Gallery to meet Tom Williams on Friday, September 4th from 5-8pm. He will demonstrate “Pinch Pot Dragons” and provide clay and instruction for anyone who wishes to participate. This is an opportunity to see Williams at work, enjoy light refreshments and meet other member artists.

The Village Gallery is a cooperative style gallery located at 6512 State Route 179 in the Village of Oak Creek and is always accepting applications for unique art and new membership. For more information, go to sedonalocalartists.com or phone (928) 284-1416.