Maggie's Pottery Studio http://www.studiosalespottery.com/ was having a special event doing Raku Pottery. I have done lots of types of pottery before, but never Raku pottery.
Raku pottery is a firing process that uses both fire and smoke to create unique patterns and designs. With raku pottery, the piece is first bisque fired. Then, it is glazed and undergoes a raku firing process. The raku firing process requires a special raku kiln that is fueled by propane and reaches temperatures of about 1800°F (about 982°C)and the firing only takes about 30-40 minutes. While the raku pottery piece is still hot and glowing, it is placed inside a metal can full of combustible materials. The heat emitted from the raku pottery causes these materials to catch on fire. After the materials inside the metal can catch on fire, a lid is placed over the can and the raku pottery is sealed inside for about 15 minutes or so. It then is placed into water to cool and freeze the coloring process.
Raku patterns and colors are unpredictable, so you never know what you are going to get when it comes out.
Maggie was working the event, so Leslie and I went down to do Raku. It was a great deal. For $20 I was able to do a vase.
I was aiming for mostly green with a hit of red or orange....but strangely some silverish appearance prevailed, thus I only like one side of the vase. It is still pretty, but a little disappointing.
We are like the vase.....we can put (paint) on all the "Right" colors but depending upon the heat and the conditions and who we are hanging out with....different colors can prevail, and we can have different sides. How do we think God feels about that?..........
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