Untitled 1995

title: Untitled 1995
medium: Thrown and Handbuilt Raku Fired ceramics
size: 20"H
availability: In Private Collection
concept and comments: Raku means pleasure and is a 16th century Japanese firing technique, connected to the tea ceremony. After the first firing, the piece is glazed and placed in the warmed up kiln. After approximately 15'minutes we close the kiln. And we take the temperature up to 1830 F pretty fast within an hour. Then when the pots are glowing hot we take them out with long tongs and gloves and put them in a trash can with combustible materials like paper, sawdust, leaves, etc. which immediately ignite and we have to cut off the oxygen from the trash can by covering it up, putting the lid on it. By reducing the oxygen the chemicals in the glazes create a very unique coloration on the surface of the pots. The results are always a surprise.
page: 1