Thursday, January 8, 2009

First Raku Firings of '09!


We had a beautiful day here in SW Colorado yesterday and hubby & I fired up the raku kiln and processed some pottery that had been "waiting in the wings" for their final coat of glorious color. If you are wondering what raku is, you can learn more about it on my website: http://www.shekinahclay.com/ &, once there, click on "about raku". There you will find pictures of an actual raku firing along with explanations of the steps and a link to wikipedia for more info.


It's a captivating process......and when I first began doing it (about 14-15 years ago), I was rather intimidated by the FIRE. As time went along though, I actually began enjoying working with the FIRE as much as I enjoy creating the pottery! Seeing the interior of a kiln at 1800-1900 degrees is a fascinating thing....it appears "alive" and has a beauty of its own.


One of the many great things about raku is that it always yields "one of a kind" results in coloration because the pieces are handled individually and each one has its own relationship with the many variables which cause the coloration. I can glaze two pieces identically and get two VERY distinctly different results!


Felt very good to be back in the raku firing saddle again!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Wow..what a nice way to start the year! Absolutely Gorgeous!