electric mist

Raku pottery

Carl, in his spare time (which is rare lately), does Raku pottery. I'm very proud of his work. Here's a bowl he did a few years ago. And here's a lidded pot with the carved leaf handles I did for him.

He's had people tell him he should be showing in galleries. We usually end up giving the pieces to friends or family for special events -- rarely does anything hang around here long enough to be earmarked for a gallery, though I'd like to be able to help him start showing soon. We'd even toyed with the idea of opening a sort of internet shop, though each piece is one-of-a-kind.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Raku pottery, it's made of a clay body that has a heavier grog content -- it's much stronger than, say, porcelain. The glazes are specific to Raku firings. A piece is thrown, then bisqued, then glazed with the Raku glaze. It's best to let the glaze dry at least a day, and the glazes seem to fire better when the temperatures outside are cooler.

Because the firing is the interesting part -- the pot is brought to about 1650 or 1700 degrees in a Raku kiln, then at the height of that heat, when it's clear the glaze has melted out evenly, the pot is removed (using tongs and heavy gloves) and placed in a container (such as a metal trash can) that is filled with combustible material (newspaper or sawdust are our favorites). The pot catches on fire and we let it burn for a minute or two, depending on the glaze, then cover it, starving the fire of the oxygen. Also, depending on the glaze, we may open the lid again, "burping" it -- allowing oxygen to rush in and cause the flame to re-ignite, then snuff it out again. This process causes the glazes to oxidze (and hence creating one-of-a-kind effects). Also, there are times we'll pull it out after just a few minutes and spray it with cold water, which stops the oxidation at that exact point -- it's a way to control more of what you get, although "control" is a bit of an over-statement, since you have to sort of know what that glaze will do with the cold water. Even then, it's unpredictable.

I have to run take both sons to the doctor now (both with different kinds of allergic reactions today! Weird!)... but I'll dig up some firing photos later and post just to show the firing process, if anyone's interested.

Posted by toni at February 23, 2004 01:26 PM