Updates

Pottery is a blast, but it’s also great to head to warmer climes and visit family I haven’t seen in too long. I’ll be back at the wheel and kiln in March.

Raku is one of the most exciting processes in pottery. It’s fast, hot, and full of the excitement that typical processes simply can’t match. You never know what you’re going to get, but sometimes it’s amazing.

Thank you to everyone visiting the MooseWood Nature Center booth at the TV 6 Craft Show. We donated many pieces to the cause, and raised over $2,000 to help the Center.

Just a few bottles out of the kiln.

I’m really learning to appreciate raku firing. The shimmering brilliant metallic tones and iridescence are unlike any other pottery. Plus, you never really know what you’re going to get. It’s a blast to clean these pots and gaze into their depths.

Everyone loves the drippy effects you get from glaze on a vertical surface, but flat surfaces provide a wonderful opportunity to blend. colors in intricate patterns. This plate is part of my Galaxy series, which evoke images of the richness of color and form found in space.

Just out of the kiln are a number of lovely soap dishes. The bottoms of these little cuties are grooved or textured to allow water to run off the soap. These look great with t.s. pink’s SoapRocks.

Raku is a pottery firing technique first practiced in Japan in the 16th century. Originally, the glazed pots were placed directly a hot kiln, allowed to come to temperature, and removed and allowed to chill quickly.

In the 1940s raku was brought to England and America, and in the late-1950s Paul Soldner developed a western style that is now broadly practiced. In this method, pottery is glazed, loaded into a cold kiln, and fired to a relatively low temperature (about 1,800° F).

The pottery is removed while still glowing hot and placed in a metal container with combustible material, like sawdust. The sawdust starts on fire, the container is covered, the fire is smothered, and the reduced oxygen atmosphere and the fumes from the burning material react with the glaze. The pots are removed from the container and quickly cooled in water. When returned to the air many glazes take on a lovely depth and iridescence that is unique to each piece.

Saggar and raku projects are always joys to see when they come out of the kiln, but watching functional pottery being used by their owners really is a thrill. Bowls, mugs, plates, vases, and bottles are the nuts and bolts of pottery, and I get a thrill when I see my handiwork in use.

I don’t create on demand. I make what moves me any given day, constantly experimenting with forms and glazes. Some items look amazing and others are abject failures. I cherish each experience, because it’s all about learning.