Enjoy the experience of a Raku firing, right here, at our guild.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Raku! We are so happy to share this fun and unpredictable firing process with you. This spring, we will be offering a Raku firing day, as well as a Raku glazing session.
Raku firing is adapted from an ancient Japanese ceramics technique that can produce incredible and often unpredictable results. In essence, Raku is when glazed pots are taken from the kiln while they are still hot with molten glaze, and then placed in a sealed container of material that would be able to catch fire, such as sawdust, newspaper or leaves. The reason for this is to starve the fire of oxygen, which gives the glaze a wonderful variety of colors. Pieces with no glaze on them take in carbon from the combusted materials, meaning some areas will have a matte black colouring
The dates:
1. Glazing session will be Thursday May 22nd @7pm. If you cannot attend the glazing activity, you can glaze your pot the morning of the firing.
2. Raku Firing Day is Saturday May 24th @8am start
3. Rain date is Sunday May 25th @8am
The details:
1. Registration is required for the Raku firing.
2. Open to all members over the age of 18.
2. It is required that members are present to fire their own pieces. Raku is an exciting event. An integral part of the fun of raku is the participation and the experience.
4. There is no cost to participate
5. You will be supplying your own bisque fired pots. Pots shall be made from cone 6 MSS guild clay or approved Raku Clay or other cone 6 clays. Pots must be bisque. Depending on attendance, you will be able to fire between one and four pots. Pots should be no larger than 8 inches wide and 8 inches high. It is better to bring upright pieces such as pinch pots, vases, hollow figurines (ie pumpkins, seals, hedgehogs, bowls or mugs. Please no flat items, they are difficult to handle and more easily damaged. The piece should be of uniform thickness and we suggest avoiding sharp corners. Very thin pieces tend to crack easily. Please talk with an experienced member for ideas!
We will send more information to those that register (ie what to wear, what to bring, etc)
Everyone is welcome to come and watch!