Raku Pots

When I was a full time student, I took first year clay. After I graduated from the textiles program, I went back and took second year clay. I could have gone back for third year but the student loans were adding up and I figured that it was probably time to find a job. Sigh.

I spent the first day that we were making pots focused on throwing. It was not quite like riding a bike. The first pot that I threw was beautiful. The second was alright. And the third ended up in the muck pile. Peter gave a throwing demonstration and along with the explanations I started to remember a bit of what I had learned about 17 years ago.
I managed to get some measure of control over the forms that I was throwing but by no means was I in complete control.

I had taken a night class in 2000 so I had thrown since my student days. It was good to get back to it. I just counted and I threw 17 bowls! Oh my!
One of the other things that I really enjoy doing is building boxes. I hand built some during my 2000 night class and was planning to make some more this time around. Peter showed us a couple of videos and one of them had a fellow that uses an extruder. After a quick look at the extruder forms that the school has, I decided to make some extruded boxes.

I made some little boxes and some bigger ones. There were also some end bits that I thought would make interesting as small vessels.
Here are two more boxes and a vessel of sorts.
Another box.
On Wednesday, our last day to build, Mira came by and made a cup. She came back on Friday to glaze it. Liam came with her and I gave him a bowl to glaze. They both turned out really well.
Yet another box.
This one is my favorite box.
One of the other things that I made years ago was a mold for fish. I built clay fish and a friend helped to make a plaster cast of them. I brought the mold in and after I had made some fish I offered the mold to anyone else that wanted to use it. By the end were were referring to the fish as "those damn fish". They were slightly awkward to place on the small bricks because the backs were slightly hollowed out but had a hanging flap of clay on the back that made them uneven.
More fish. I think that my two favorites are the two in the front.
There are a few more pots that are less successful that I didn't take pictures of. Now I have to find a place to put a bunch of these. And of course there are some of you that will be getting some when you visit.

Raku

Yesterday was the last day of the class and as such, we had a lot of work to do. A lot of pots to glaze. A lot of pots to fire. A lot.
Here is the class photo. Peter, our teacher, is second from the left in the back. He is a great teacher. Very patient and willing to help. The students were Erica, Ken, Jose, Ralph, Sean, and myself.
Peter was also willing to pull out the big heavy pot that I wasn't wanting to risk dropping. By this time my arms were getting sore and a little shaky.
I used a different set of muscles from the ones that I normally do. Grabbing objects with long tongs and really really not wanting to drop them is more difficult that one would think.
You can see a bunch of pots sitting on the top of the kiln. This warms them up a bit so that there is less shock when they get put into the kiln.

And some times you have to bend and stoop. Keep in mind that yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far and we had to put on protective clothing because the kiln is nearing 1000 degrees. It was really hot sweaty work.
We fired late into the night. Erica's husband came by with their two beautiful dogs.
When the sun goes down you can really see how hot the pots are when they come out of the kiln.
You can see the fire too as the paper that we put in the barrel ignites.
In this photo, you can also see Heather, who is a potter and LOVES to load and unload the kilns. I was more than willing to step aside and let her take a few turns.
And the smoke. I really smelt bad when I finally got home.
I was ready to fall down after the last firing and so I left at about 10. There was still some clean up to do and the last person left at about 11:30.
All in all it was an awesome week, but I have to admit that I am not all that keen to repeat the process. I loved building the pots and glazing them, and I really liked seeing what came out of the kiln, but the firing was a bit too physically demanding for my liking.

Next post...... the pots!

Dirty Potter

I guess that I have been absent for most of the week. Sorry about that , but I have been playing in the mud. I have, for the last few days, become a dirty potter.

I have been taking part in an EdVentures workshop. As some of you may have read earlier, I am teaching a workshop in Temari Balls this summer as part of a workshop series . And since Monday, I have been taking a Raku Pottery Workshop. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were devoted to making things to fire. They were then bisqued so that we could glaze them and then glaze fire them in the raku kiln. Bisquing is basically cooking the pots so that some of the chemicals are driven off and the pot becomes hard enough to handle without fear of breaking.

So sorry for no photos of the actual making of the pots. I spent most of the time with my hands (and various other parts of me) covered in clay. Clay and camera don't mix, and ever time I thought of taking pictures, I would think "I'll take pictures as soon as I wash my hands". Unfortunately, washed hands were quickly followed by something else equally dirty. So, sorry. no pictures of any sort of production.

Here is the set up for out raku firing. Normally, pottery is fired to a bisque then glazed and fired to what ever temperature the clay body can stand before melting. This process takes a couple of days. In raku, the clay is bisqued, then glazed and fired quickly. In fact, it takes about 45 minutes from the time that the pots get put into the kiln until they are ready to be taken out. It is TOTALLY AWESOME!

Here is the set up that we have. We first put the kiln in place (which you can't see here) then put the metal garbage cans at the ready. The garbage cans have a layer of sawdust in the bottom to give a good surface for the pots to sit on once they come out of the kiln.
Here are the different glazes that we are using. There are 11 different ones. So many possibilities! Erica, one of my class mates, is contemplating the possibilities.

Here is the kiln. It is a gas fired kiln that, once warmed up, takes about 40 to 45 minutes to reach about 920 C. We gradually increase the temperature over the time by turning up the burner.
This is the first firing in the kiln. It is easy to load because the kiln is cold. After the initial firing, the kiln is hot (oh baby so HOT) and it is a little more challenging to load it.

Here you see me and Shaun getting ready to unload. We have in protective leather jackets and aprons. The heat is intense. By the end of the first unloading and reloading, my face was beet red and stayed that way for about 40 minutes. After that, I used a face shield. As I said to someone, I am NOT a "real man".
The caution tape is to keep the general public from wandering in and burning themselves or getting in the way.
The pots come out of the kiln and go into the sawdust bins. After a few pots get put in, some newspaper gets dropped in and because of the heat of the post starts to burn. This causes what is called reduction. The burning paper causes the oxygen in the garbage can to burn out and the oxygen molecules that are in the various glazes start to be leached out by the oxygen deprived environment and a shift in colour occurs.
The lids are put back on the bins after each pot is put in it to keep the oxygen low.
Here are a few of the test pieces that some of the students have done just after being put in the bin.


We had a lot of interesting observers. There were periods of waiting......and waiting.....and checking of the kiln......and then suddenly a flurry of activity.


After the kiln was unloaded, the small pieces of fire brick that each pot was sitting on had to be unloaded and then new fire brick put on the shelves and on each piece of brick, a new pot was placed. It was very challenging to load the kiln. it radiated heat and so each fire brick needs to be put in with the long tongs (relatively easy) and then a new pot needs to be gently placed on each piece of fire brick with the tongs (not so easy). The pots can not be too close to the edge, nor can they be touching and you really don't want the pots in any place that is in a "hot spot", which is where the flames lick along sides of the kiln and the pots and makes a localized area where the temperature is hotter. The problem with this is that the glazes have all been tweaked to melt at about the same temperature ( thank you Peter!) and hot spots will melt the glaze in that area sooner. Melted glaze is molten glass and molten glass runs. Which can create one hell of a mess.

After the pots have sat in the sawdust and newsprint bins for about 15 minutes, it is time to quench them. The tongs are again used to lift the pots from the bins and gently placed into vats of water.

After a few minutes the pots are then cool enough to handle and the black from the smoke is scrubbed off. And there you have it! Raku pots!


And by the end of the day, I was totally bagged. This was just about the first day that we have had all summer that actually felt like a summer day. The sun was shining and really really hot. When we weren't "on duty" ( we each took turns loading and unloading the kiln as well as being the one who watched the kiln to make sure that it didn't over fire and run glaze all over the place) we would duck back inside to glaze a few more pots or grab a drink of water.
After we fired the last kiln of the day, most of us went out for a beer. And I meant to take a picture but... I have to admit that once that tall frosty beer was set in front of me, thoughts of pictures flew away.

Tomorrow, Day two of firing and .... my pots.
But be warned, it will be late in the day or maybe not even until Saturday. Tomorrow, we will fire until we are done. No matter now late that may be.

Oh my.

Introducing......

The new new washing machine. It's a Maytag. It was more expensive than the other new washing machine, but guess what! When I plugged it in, it worked!


Dad came and we loaded up the first new machine and the dryer, brought them back to the store and basically traded them in for a higher end machine. It was quick to hook up and when I pushed the power button, there was POWER! Can you imagine?

Thanks Mamoo and Grampie for all your help in this ridiculous song and dance. You two are the greatest!

And for those of you who wandered over here to see something soft and fluffy, here is 208 yards of soft merino goodness. My own hand dyed of course.