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The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers In This Issue ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Welcome all you new subscribers!!! What a month! The number of subscribers more than doubled again. I'm really happy with the response and feedback so far. If you know anyone that might be interested in receiving this newsletter each month, forward this copy to him or her and give him or her a chance to subscribe. Now that I've got my feet wet on the newsletter thing, I think I will try to focus on a theme each month. At least I will try - no guarantees. This should add a little more continuity and focus to the newsletter. This month the theme is firing techniques. I have received a lot of positive feedback on the newsletter so far.
Thank you! I will try and keep up the good work. If would like to help
support this newsletter, please consider a donation of any size via PayPal
at: As always I look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas. You can send these to me at: editor@garyrferguson.com. Gary R. Ferguson ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Well it's February and you know what that means - Valentine's Day and giving your Sweetheart a gift. Don't give your Sweetheart the same old card, candy, and flowers. Consider the truly unique gift of Raku pottery. Not sure which piece your sweetheart would like? No problem. Gift certificates are now available at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/gallery.htm Also if you have a potter on your Sweetheart list, check out the recommended books at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/books.htm Well is that enough shameless promotion? Ok, on to the rest of the newsletter. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Tips and Techniques * Post-firing using a blowtorch So you get done with the post-firing process and you end up with a piece you don't like. This is especially common with a copper matte glaze that didn't flash as you expected - you only got copper. Some people like that, others don't. If you are one that doesn't, don't throw the piece away yet, or rush to do a complete refiring. You may be able to produce an acceptable piece with the use of a small hand blowtorch. While the piece is still warm, you can take a blowtorch and quickly move it over sections of the pot. If done carefully small sections of the pot will partially reoxidize and produce some rainbow colored sections from the solid copper section. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Piepenburg Workshop III - Glazes and Firing In the last two months' newsletters I covered the wheel techniques and handbuilding techniques that Robert Piepenburg used during a recent workshop I attended. This month I cover the glazing and firing tips and techniques he shared. While this workshop did not actually involve a Raku firing, Piepenburg did discuss several tips and methods involving glazes and firing. There are interesting Raku glazes that involve the use of silver nitrate. This is the same chemical that is used in photo developing and is very light sensitive. I had always resisted the use of this material because it was expensive and I didn't know how to store it to keep it from being damaged if exposed to light. His wife Gail uses this type of glaze a lot and all she does to protect it from being damaged from light is simply keep it in a dark solid jar. That seems pretty simple. When asked how he applied glazes to produce his copper matte effects, he stated he typically sprays or pours the glazes that are in a water-like consistency. He does little to no brushing. There were a few tips that Piepenburg provided that dealt with firing. For example he makes many of his pieces with a very small base because a smaller base is much less likely to crack during the firing. He also places the piece on a cool brick each time to reduce thermal shock. Another interesting thing he does is he only fires one piece at a time, regardless of the size of the piece. This way he can concentrate on how glaze on just one piece is maturing and does not have to worry about any negative effect of uneven firing that can occur when multiple pieces are fired. To get an accurate representation of the temperature in the kiln he uses a digital pyrometer. In fact some glazes he is very careful as to what temperature to pull the piece. For example a piece with the Alligator glaze is fired for around 45 minutes and is pulled at 1875F. He doesn't focus too much on whether the kiln is fired in oxidation or reduction. The only time he cares is with the firing of clear crackle glazes. He says he gets gray results (instead of white) if the piece is fired in reduction. He reduces using a sand pit. The piece is pulled and placed on a brick that has straw on and around it. Then a can is placed upside down over the piece and the rim is pressed into the sand. After 3 or 4 minutes, the can is burped (quickly opened and closed) for about 1 second In some cases he places the combustibles in the bottom of the can and then presses a wire mesh over the combustibles to hold the contents in place. Then when the can is over turned, the combustibles stay in the bottom (which is now the top), but the heat still ignites the combustibles to product a reduction atmosphere. Some pictures from the workshop can be seen at: Next month I will cover the creativity ideas he shared during the workshop. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Q & A * Q: How do I keep a propane tank from "freezing" up? A: This is a very common problem, especially when firing quickly, using
a 5 gallon tank, in cold weather. There are a few solutions you can try. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- Blue Crackle This is a very reliable glossy dark blue which typically produces a small crackle pattern. The blue is constant whether there is strong reduction or not. It does not tend to run and typically has to be fired slightly hotter than a normal Raku glaze to achieve maturity. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Bookworm * Raku: A Review of Contemporary Work - Tim Andrews I will warn you right now, this book is out of print, but if you can find a used copy (and there are a few available at the link above) get it. This is a great combination of a technical book and a gallery book. Tim covers some of the main areas of Raku - Form, Color and Decoration, Post-firing, Glaze, and Surface treatments. But in each of these technical sections a group of contemporary Raku artists have been selected based on their artistic treatment in dealing with that technical area. For example David Roberts is included in the Form section. He creates e tall, narrow, exaggerated forms primarily only using a white crackle glaze. His artistic focus is primarily on the form, not the glaze or post-firing reduction, etc. Another example is Rick Foris in the color and decoration section. He creates these wonderful combinations of vessel and architectural forms, but achieves amazing copper matte flashing results. Each artist that is profiled provides a basic artist statement then also typically includes some technical information on how they do their type of Raku. These are wonderful insights into the minds of dozens of artist. This is a great book, if you want to be exposed to a vast array of Raku techniques and artists. There are hundreds of pictures that can provide many creative ideas for your own work. I can't believe this book is out of print, but as I mentioned you can
find some used at Amazon.com via: To view past reviewed books visit: ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ My full calendar can be seen at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/events.htm Shows for 2003 are still primarily tentative. Currently, the first show in 2003 will not be until June. The publication of "500 Bowls" by Lark Book is still progressing http://www.larkbooks.com. It appears the the new book will be available in March 2003. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Click Away * Francine Haines American Style Magazine - Raku Findings Just Raku Newsletter Archive ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ If you wish to no longer receive this newsletter send an email to unsubscribe@garyrferguson.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Disclaimer: Just Raku, the owner(s) and representative(s) of this
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