Chris Tullar: Biography

Born in Santa Monica, Chris Tullar moved to Hanover, New Hampshire for junior and senior high school. The child of two photographers, he learned early to look at the world closely and with a discerning eye.

By the time he was ten years old, he had learned to braze metal. The fascination with joining metal stuck. While in high school, he took an art class where he made his first piece of jewelry, a modified tribal design. Wishing to pursue an apprenticeship, at age 16 he went knocking on doors at local jewelers to see if they would hire him.

Paul Gross, owner of Designer Gold, advised him to study more and come back. Chris’s high school art teacher encouraged him to apply to art school. He was accepted into the Maine College of Art and Design where he was mentored by Timothy McCreight, renowned metalsmith and educator. After earning a bachelor’s degree, he returned to Designer Gold in Hanover. This time, he was offered a job as a goldsmith. He started making jewelry with his signature precision and quirky beauty.

At this point Chris’s portfolio included an articulated spider made of silver and copper. It looks like the miniature silver sculptures made in Japan when the swordmakers stopped making swords for daily wear. Needing something to sell, swordmakers created cunning realistic animals. Chris’s spider is like these creatures, palmsized, it is about the size of a real tarantula, but much more delicate, smooth, and elegant.

Moving toward more perfect forms, his rings and pendants started to reveal his extreme dedication to precision and technical mastery over metals. Textures showing light flickering across metal are his style, counter to the high polish sheen of most mass produced jewelry.

After working for Designer Gold for several years, he applied to and was accepted at an MFA program in Montana. He moved to Bozeman and started working on larger pieces and this is where he began to produce interactive sculpture. Designer Gold presented a show of his sculptures, entitled “Machines for a Perfect World” in April 2008. Photographs of some of these pieces are shown in Chris’s portfolio section on this website.

The playfulness of his work can be seen in his sculptures, which he names “Machines” plus a number. One of them works like a kaleidoscope, but instead of fragments of broken glass or plastic, he uses gemstones and magnifying lenses. The viewer twirls the viewing end and see into the heart of an opal or agate, two of his favorite stones.

In the fall of 2007, Chris moved back to Hanover where his mother still lives. He has two sisters, one is following the family footsteps of studying photography. Chris enjoys skiing and other winter sports every chance he gets. A member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, he enjoys teaching jewelry classes.