Raku – Make a Decorative Fish

You have seen the process on the Great Pottery Throwdown…now come do it yourself. Raku is the fun, instant gratification (most times), playing with fire, pottery process. The kiln reaches temperature fairly quickly, and the pots are pulled out of the kiln red hot, placed into a container of combustible materials, which then ignites. Once the fire is really going, a lid is put on the bin, extinguishing the fire. What happens is that the glazes,

 

through the reduction of oxygen, turn cool metallic colors. Clay that is not glazed turns black through the carbonization of the combustibles. 

This workshop will take place Friday May 9 from  6 – 8 pm.  It is suitable for folks who have no experience working with clay of raku, but given the nature of raku – not suitable for children. 

In this workshop, you will be a given a slab of clay, during which you will be led through the steps of creating a fish that you can hang on your wall. The metallics of the glazes are perfect to replicate the shininess of fish.  The fish that is the product image, I made, but I have included some other pictures for inspriation.   I would request that during this workshop – you will only make a fish. The collaboration and creative process of sharing ideas, leads to all making a better product. 

Some of the results from recent raku firings at Old School Clay

Once your fish is made, it will be bisque fired. This firing burns out the organic material from the clay, and makes it sturdy enough to be glazed. Once the piece has been bisqued, you will be notified. You will then come pick up your piece and hold it until the raku firing you sign up for happens. 

During the summer, I will be doing raku firings. I am hoping to have 8 people per firing to help. You will sign up for a firing  on the Old School Clay website that works with your schedule. The day you sign up, you will bring your fish and glaze it. Then we will do the firing. There will be no additional charge for the firing. My expectation is that I will do firings on Tuesday Evenings 6 – 8 pm and Saturdays  noon to 2 pm. If it is too hot or rain is expected, the firing may be cancelled or rescheduled or postponed.

These are a couple of good videos about raku – if you are not familiar with the process. 

To sign up for this workshop, click here.

Please familiarize yourself with the rules of the studio before committing to this workshop.