I'm an amateur potter. Playing in the mud is fun and stimulating.
My first raku pot
 | This was my first raku vase. I was fortunate to achieve multiple levels of crackling (large dark lines, smaller less-dark lines). Glazing via the raku process means that you quickly bring the glazed pot up to about cone 05 temperature -- where the glaze melts and smooths out. Then open the kiln and pull out the pot while it is red hot. Put it in a container with combustable matierials. The materials burst into flame. Cover the container. The smoke generated by the fire will permeate the pot any place there is no glaze. The crackle is achieved by using a glaze that shrinks more quickly than the underlying clay. The open spaces in the cracks are raw clay and will be colored by the smoke. The multiple layers are acomplished by taking the hot pot out of the smoke container for a little bit and then putting it back in. |
2005-12-09 17:47:50 GMT