Raku or Raccoon?

Our daughter took a pottery (wheel) class over the summer at our local TVCAG guild. Upon dropping her off one evening for class, I notice they were compiling a flyer for a fundraising event. I inquired as to what type of event and she said “Raku”, only you know me, I heard something completely different and thought she said “Raccoon”. I said, “what do you do with raccoons?” to which she replied,” we fire up some flaming hot containers in the parking lot and we throw the Raku into them. Once they are done, we scrub off all the soot and then you take home your finished product.” Now, I thought to myself “self, I know you are in Alabama, but surely they have some type of city ordinance against flaming up poor defenseless raccoons in the parking lot!” I mean, we are a civilized nation aren’t we, what type of organization have I had our daughter join? I was very relieved and a little more than embarrassed to discover they had no intention of firing up or flaming any raccoons, but Raku, which is a form of Japanese pottery…whew good to know!

Raku : a process by which pottery is fired at a relatively low temperature and then moved while hot to a closed container with combustible materials ( as paper or sawdust) that ignite and cause a reaction creating colors and patterns in the pottery’s surface.

Origin of RAKU Japanese, literally, pleasure; from the use of the character for this word on a seal given to the family of the potter who introduced the style. First known use 1875 On Sunday in support of the local artesian pottery guild, we ventured out to our first Hot Shrimp Boil and RAKU. All proceeds went to the support of the Tennessee Valley Ceramics Art Guild (TVCAG) or as it will soon be known (new name and logo) Earth Spin and Fire. While my husband “B” enjoyed the comforts of the air conditioned studio and the hot shrimp boil, my mother, daughter and I proceeded to claim and purchase our pots, which had all been thrown and donated by local artist who are members of the guild.

Step one: Pick out pot Mom and I picked out pots which were relatively the same size, but different in texture. The kid picked out a pig. For all who know us, guess what song immediately jumped into my head (favorite kids show…pig that is into everything and acts just like our DAUGHTER!)

Step two: Pick out glaze and paint pot. We had a choice of several different glaze medians to include silver, dark metallic, bumpy light blue (which created an orange peel effect), dark blue metallic and a mystery color simply labeled mystery recycle. Mom and I decided to be adventurous and picked a variety of different colors. I started out with a silver base, added some dark metallic, painted on a few coats of bumpy light blue and a dark blue metallic around the rim. Mom went with the dark metallic, added some bumpy blue, put on a few coats of silver and called it a day! The “kid” opted to go full on silver glaze for her special pig!

Step three: Kiln drying Before the pieces could be sent to the firing station they had to spent about 15 – 20 mins in the kiln to ensure the glaze was dry and ready for firing.

Step Four: Firing We deposited our painted pieces in long line and began the wait for our firing. Raku differs from traditional firings in that the pottery is loaded into a hot kilm vs. cold. The firing proceeds at a rapid pace with the wares reaching temperature in as short a cycle as 15-20 minutes. The guys running the kiln had electronic meters attached and knew the pottery was close to done, when the meter surpassed 1850 degrees. When the firing is determined to be completed the wares are immediately removed from the kiln. Since at this point the glaze is molten, the volunteers used long metal tongs to lift the pieces from the kiln and move them to the second stage in the process. The pots were put into a container in this case metal trash cans and metal buckets with lids along with combustible material such as sawdust and shredded newspaper and allowed to smoke for a period of time. The carbonaceous atmosphere reacts and affects the glazes and clay and imparts unique effects and surfaces to the wares. Some of these effects are metallic and crackled glazes surfaces and black unglazed clay. When the wares have cooled, they are washed with soap and water along with a green scrub pad to remove all residues of soot and ash.

Step Five: The Clean Up Once our pots and pig were pulled from the fire we were off to the washing stations. Armed with dishwashing soap and a scrubbing pad we were off and running. It was amazing to see the beauty of the glaze, when we unearthed it from all the soot. Step Six: Admiring Our Work When it was all said and done, we were able to stand back and ooh and awww over our master pieces! I took a shot of “O” and her platinum piggy too cute! It was a fun evening, a great new experience and something we would definitely do again!