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The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers In This Issue ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ First I want to wish everyone happy holidays in whatever you celebrate at this time of year. Take a moment to reflect back on what has happened in the past year and what the future year could hold in store. Second, I want to welcome all the new subscribers. November was a popular month to join apparently as membership almost tripled. I hope everyone finds something of interest. As always, I look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas. You can send these to me at: editor@garyrferguson.com. Thanks for reading. Gary R. Ferguson ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ I finally did it. My scheduled shows are done for the year and I finally had time to go through and update my online Gallery with the most current work and available pieces. The quick link is http://www.garyrferguson.com/gallery.htm. Remember, Raku makes a great gift, as you are sure the recipient doesn't already have one just like it. I received a good suggestion to my cracking problem with my shard plates that I mentioned last month. The suggestion was to wedge the clay really well. I use premixed, bagged clay and I got to thinking about this and I realized, that I had used the clay straight out of the bag (no wedging) to make these platters. This may very well have been my problem. I'll try wedging first for the next batch and see if it goes any better. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Dropping bags of Clay Along the theme of wedging bagged clay is a tip to make the job a little easier. I typically buy my clay in bulk (ok, small bulks, but still a quantity in which I get a price break). As such, I may have some bagged clay laying around for a few weeks or months. This clay has a tendency to be a little "stiff" and hard to work with right out of the bag. A great tip I found was to take the bag of clay and drop it on the concrete, four times (once along each side corner edge). This "wakes up" the clay and makes it much more malleable and much easier to wedge. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Robert Piepenburg Workshop - Part I I had an opportunity last month to attend a one-day workshop with one
of the more famous Raku potters - Robert Piepenburg. He is the author of
two clay books: I will cover this workshop over the next 3 or 4 issues because there was a lot of good information shared during the day. This month's article will cover how he throws clay, shapes, and trims clay on the wheel. First, Piepenburg noted the stool height should be as high as the wheel head so that your legs can be straighter out to improve circulation. When throwing he pulls the walls using a sponge in the outside hand. Later when he is shaping the piece, he uses a rib on the outside and moves to using the sponge on the inside. He generally leaves a fairly thick bottom on smaller pieces, which he later trims to shape. He thickens the rim after each pull, which helps keep the pot on center and finally he carves small chunks out of the top of the rim and them smoothes with a sponge to add interest to the rims of the pieces. Piepenburg had some interesting tips for throwing tall pieces. First, if you are going to throw a tall piece start with a tall centered mound. This starts the wall out higher to begin with. He then throws from the top down. This involves pulling up the first top inch or so of the wall. Then pulling up the next lower top inch, and then the next until the last pull starts from the bottom. This was a technique I had not heard of before nor tried yet. He also noted that is was important to have narrow throwing marks on a tall piece because narrow throwing marks are the sign of a strong wall. Next he gave thoughts on throwing a bulbous form. Since a bulbous form is unstable in wet clay the form has to be thrown in stages allowing the piece to partially dry or the piece can be quickly dried using a blowtorch or heat gun so the walls can be pushed out and shaped safely. When trimming a piece he usually uses a push pin(s) pushed through the sides and bottom of the pot to gauge how much has been removed during the trimming process. When the trimming tool start hitting the pin tip, he knows to stop trimming. He also places a baby food jar lid on the bottom of the pot to place his finger on to help stabilize the pot when trimming the sides of the pot. He lets the sides and top dry so the bottom can be trimmed. Once the bottom is trimmed, he softens the sides and top again by placing wet paper towels around the pot and covers it with a plastic bag for between 30 to 60 minutes. This makes the walls pliable again. Piepenburg likes to make marks and distort the piece once it has been formed and trimmed. His favorite technique is to press a piece of wood molding into the pot from a variety of angles and twists. He then pushes out from the inside where the mark was made to return "energy" back to the piece. In next month's newsletter I will cover how Piepenburg handbuilds pieces. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Q: Can I fire Raku in an Electric kiln? A: Yes, there are several successful artists that do so (see Click Away below). It does take much longer to reach the proper temperature and there are several precautions that must be taken. For example opening the kiln (especially a top-loading kiln) will require a special pulley system or a well-protected second person to open the lid and be protected from the extreme heat. You also should disconnect the power to the kiln before reaching in with metal tongs to reduce the chance of electrocution. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Alligator - How Piepenburg Fires Apply the Glaze - spray, pour, brush, or dip ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Spirit of Clay - Robert Piepenburg Piepenburg created this book as a textbook for pottery students so, it start with the very basics and covers a lot of material in all aspects of the pottery making process. He starts with a general overview of clay, the different types of clay, what clay is composed of, and some recipes for various types of clay. He also includes several interesting exercises to introduce the student to clay and the creative process. Next is the building process, which includes handbuilding (pinching, coiling, slabs, and general sculpture), throwing (centering, opening, pulling, and shaping), trimming (upright, inverted, and with a chuck), and coverage of creating a wide variety of forms (bowl, bottle, plates, and lids). Then comes glazes and glazing. Again he covers all aspects of what makes up a glaze, types of glaze, and the influence of common glaze chemicals and colorants. Many glaze application methods are covered (brush, dipping, pouring, and spraying) There is also a considerable section on glaze development and testing. Again there is a sample of glaze recipes for a variety of firing ranges. The final main section is on kilns and firing. This again includes an overview of the various types of kilns and firing methods, including kiln loading, stacking, and firing in oxidation and reduction, and the basics of kiln construction. Included is a considerable focus on Raku and Pit firing. Throughout the book is an extensive collection of black and white photos of an amazing variety of work. There are also many photos of the equipment, techniques and processes covered above. Spirit of Clay is a great overview of the many ways of working with clay including basic methods and techniques that can be used to discover what one enjoys in the medium. More comprehensive and focused texts can then be used to go into depth with a certain focus or technique. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ My full calendar can be seen at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/events.htm I am pretty much done with organized shows for 2002. I will start applying for shows for 2003. I plan on doing more shows next year than I did this year. My slides were returned from Lark Publishing that will be included in
the 500 Bowls book. It is scheduled for release sometime in early 2003. In
the meantime check out 500 Teapots by Lark Books ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ William K. Turner - Raku-Art Raku Crosses Just Raku Newsletter Archive http://www.garyrferguson.com/newsletters.htm ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ If you wish to no longer receive this newsletter send a email to
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