Raku was originally a Japanese technique but it has been co-opted by Western potters these days. It involves bisque firing your piece as usual and then using special low-temperature raku glazes. The pieces are fired in a gas kiln to about 1000 degrees C until the glaze melts, lifted out of the kiln while glowing red-hot and transfered to a bin of sawdust, or other combustible material, and allowed to burn to reduce the glaze, before finally putting them in water to cool. With the right glaze and a good reduction (removal of all the oxygen), you can produce fantastic metallic lustres and vivid colours, and striking black and white pieces – just put raku pottery into a google image search and you’ll see what I mean! Raku is very messy and smelly, and you need good protective gear, but it is also great fun because it is so much more immediate and experimental than normal ceramics, you never really know how something is going to come out until you try it.
Here are some examples of pieces I’ve made:
Raku mask with white and clear crackle and copper based glazes
Copper glazed raku press moulded panels
White crackle, strong green and purple raku glazed thrown pot
Raku glazed stars
Bright turquoise glazed raku vase and press moulded dish
