Yesterday I got my first taste of the raku kiln up at Blossom Hill Crafts. It's one of those nice side loading ones from Laguna which was interesting considering I've been using a homemade top loader made from a barrel and kiln fiber for the past 4 months. So I got my vase glazed up, learned the ropes on how to run the kiln without blowing myself to smitherines, and then it was on! I decided to go with a rainbow gloss for my first shot at it...just to see if I could get some different results than what I was getting previously with this really strange shiny copper raku glaze somebody concocted up at the college...it literally looked like liquid powered cocoa when it went on...bizarro indeed. Anyway, I digress! Fired up the burners...waited 15 minutes, turned em up a second time, waited 15 more and then maxed them out. From the only "peep hole" (a little hole on the kiln to glance at how your vase is doing in the heat) in the kiln it looked glossy and ready to be pulled. I was excited...'It's TIME!' I thought to myself. Got my gloves on, readied my surroundings, threw the gas off and opened up the lid. Ohhhhh's and Aaaahss could be heard from friendly observers as I started to take my tongs towards my 1800 degree piece of fired clay. What I DIDN'T see however was the bottom of my vase was looking like a lunar surface which means it didn't get hot enough in the kiln. I actually didn't see it until the moment I placed it in the barrel and flames were igniting which means it's time to close the lid. 'Oh dear...maybe that'll look cool!' I said. 2 hours later I pulled the piece out and saw my results...underfired masterpieces!!! 'This is unacceptable' I thought. 'There must be something I can do!' I inquired to a colleague of mine about what to do about it...his response... "Fire it again!!!!"
And so the notion was born that if this piece could survive another firing...it might look cool!' So I darted down to the studio this morning, fired up the kiln a second time and really went all the way with it this time. The result? See for yourself!!! This is the piece after the SECOND firing. Shiny copper goodness!!! I'm happy and glad to have learned how to do things right the first time!In similar news, I was approached by some friendly people today who wanted to fire 2 pots right as I got the kiln lit this morning to which I replied "Sure!" They were planning on doing a really neat thing called "Horsehair Raku" which consists of firing a bisque-ware unglazed piece in the kiln, getting it nice and hot, pulling it out and placing the piece on a brick and then draping the hair of a horse over it to create a very abstract yet beautiful line effect. I got to witness this process today, which was awesome. 
The best part about it, one of the people doing it actually owned a horse and offered me a whole grip of horse hair! You can bet I'll be dabbling with this stuff in the near future...and I'll be posting the results as soon as they arrive! Anyone know of a good floorwax? I need it for sealing my next pieces after the horsehair technique is done!!
The best part about it, one of the people doing it actually owned a horse and offered me a whole grip of horse hair! You can bet I'll be dabbling with this stuff in the near future...and I'll be posting the results as soon as they arrive! Anyone know of a good floorwax? I need it for sealing my next pieces after the horsehair technique is done!!Here's a sneak peak at some new work just created...and some more coming down the pipe. Like I said, I'll be keeping you updated so until then...clay is the way, happy throwing, and enjoy your blown out cylindrical bliss!
