Chris Harford started working as a potter with Paul Fisher in New Zealand in 1982, making domestic stoneware. In the mid-1980s, he became interested in raku and continued to develop this interest as an associate then a tenant at the Jam Factory in Adelaide from 1989-91. In 1992, he and his wife embarked on a four-year study and working tour around the world by bicycle, spending two of these years in rural Ireland. On his return to Australia in early 1996, he took up a position as artist-in-residence at the Canberra Potters' Society and established his Spinning Gum Pottery in Watson, ACT, where he still lives and works. Recently, he has returned to making high-fired works in stoneware and porcelain. His works are signed with an incised 'Harford' and the Spinning Gum Pottery leaf motif or an impresed 'CH'.