Raku Leaf Bowl

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 Wednesday August 8 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 young children. 

In this workshop, you will be a given a slab of clay, into which you will press a larger leaf. That leaf is then shaped around a plaster mold, or you can put a hole in it to hang for wind chimes. Once it is dry, it is fired, and made ready for you to come back and glaze it.  

You need to sign up for the actual raku firing that will take place Friday August 15 and/or Friday August 22, There is no additonal cost for the firing, but whether the firing take place will depend on the weather, and if I have enough folks to help. If the temperature is over 90, or if rain is forecasted, or I don’t have enough people to help, I need a minimum of 6, the firing will be postponed. 

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

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.