RAKU

A Japanese word freely interpreted as ENJOYMENT. Chinese and Korean potters made this type of pottery before being produced in Japan. Chojiro, a Korean potter produced this type of ware for the Japanese Tea Ceremony. The Emperor, after Chojiro died, gave his son a stamp with the ideogram of "RAKU" (see the small red dots through out this homepage) for his family to use with this type of pottery. To make his pottery, Chojiro placed the glazed ware into a hot kiln where it remained until the glaze matured (melted). Then he took the hot piece out of the kiln, let it air cool for a very short period of time, and then plunged it into water. This caused a color change and many cracks in the glaze and sometimes in the pottery. The Japanese honored the effect that the fire and sudden chilling of the pieces had on the pottery.

The American version of this process includes a post-fire reduction to produce a wide range of colors and effects. To make my pieces, I start with a lump of moist clay, and usually make many similar pieces at one time. I sign, date and add the copyright symbol when the clay is moist. (Note: only the designs are copyrighted, not the shapes). After drying, they are placed in an electric bisque kiln and fired to cone 05-08. The designs and glazes are applied after the pieces are cool. The glazes are formulated in my studio and are made using a variety of ingredients, including some exotic metal compounds. These, in combination with other glaze materials, give me the various hues and surface effects. The effect that firing has on these glazes can be seen in the following series of pictures. The first picture (just click on it to see a larger size) shows the tile with about 100 glazes just after being painted on. The tiles are painted with one coat on the right side, two coats in the middle and three coats thick on the left hand side. The stripe on top of the glaze section is a clear glaze one layer thick.

The second picture is the effect of firing to a cone 07 temperature, in an oxidzing (meaning excess oxygen) atmosphere. The third picture shows the same tile after a RAKU post-fire reduction firing. (this means a lack of oxygen, excess carbon monoxide present from the burning of the organic material used) So after the piece is glazed, and air dried, it is heated on top of a gas kiln, to dry it further.It is then placed in the kiln that is hot from the previous firing. The pieces are observed until the glaze appears to have melted, between 1750 to 1850 degrees Fahrenheit.

At this time they are removed and placed into a container containing any natural combustible materials, such as: dry leaves, sawdust, paper, etc. These spontaneously ignite on contact with the hot piece. A lid is placed on top of the container to put out the flame. This make a reducing (lack of oxygen) atmosphere and produces smoke and carbon particles. The formation of the colors and surface effects occurs during this period. Some of the metal oxides react with the carbon monoxide (from the incomplete oxidation of the carbon in the organic material present) and are reduced to the metallic state. Any areas not covered with a glaze, such as the design lines, will turn black from the smoking. This effect is used to give my pieces a very different and cohesive look. After about 10-15 minutes in the reduction atmosphere, the pieces (still around 1000°F) are removed and dunked into or sprayed with water . This halts the re-oxidation of the glazed surfaces and, because of the sudden temperature change, causes the many glaze and surface cracks observed in the finished pieces. They are cleaned with soap and steel wool and given a final water rinse and polished.