Went to my friend and “pottery bud’s” house on Friday for a Raku party. Glennda does a Raku fire once a month on the second Friday of the month and invites any one who is interested. Its a fun night, but of course, potters are fun people–we all know that. This week about a dozen people showed up, old standby’s and some new people who had not participated in a raku firing before. We bring our bisqued pieces, gather late in the afternoon around her patio
table to paint them with raku glazes that she supplies and enjoy a pot luck supper and get to know everyone. Then we all head to the back yard where Ray has the kiln fired up and ready to load the first batch.
Those are my tiles sitting atop the hot kiln, drying the freshly applied glazes while the first batch “cooks.” Once the kiln has reached over 1800 degrees F, then the kiln is quickly opened, the pieces are carefully picked out of the kiln and put into a fireproof container with newspaper in it. The paper immediately catches fire and that’s when we snap the lid on, putting the flame out and letting the black carbon penetrate those un-glazed areas of the piece. That is what gives it that distinctive raku look.
Glennda gives instructions to a couple of new people just how to add horsehair to a piece that is steaming hot, fresh from the kiln for a very cool look.
My raven came out really nice. Those metallic colors really pop with the carbon black accents. I think I will put a nice copper hanger on top and maybe some beads hanging from the bottom.
