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The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers In This Issue ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ This month's topic will be a first in a periodic series of functional Raku. Raku for the most part should be enjoyed as art for art sake, but some people always look for a way to use art for functional purposes. This month I will look at using Raku art as functional candle holders or luminaries. I will cover other functional aspects of Raku in future monthly issues. If would like to help support this newsletter, please consider a
donation of any size via PayPal at: I will look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas. You can send these to me at: editor@garyrferguson.com. Gary R. Ferguson ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * From the Studio * After several months I finally got back into the studio and did a little throwing. It was great getting my hands back into the clay. One thing I did do based on suggestions from other wheel-throwing potters was to raise my wheel up a little bit. The top of the wheel head is now even with the top of my thigh. This way I don't have to bend over as far to throw and will hopefully save wear and tear and strain on the lower back. Some potters have gone so far as to throw standing up but I haven't quite went to that extreme yet. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Tips and Techniques * A subscriber wrote in last month about a new technique she was using
with Raku. She added salt to terra sigillata and then coated her pieces
with this and Raku fired them. She apparently obtained very interesting
results with that additional effect of the salt in combination with the
smoke effect of the terra sigillata. This might be something to experiment
with. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Article * Functional Raku - Luminaries The first type of functional Raku that I will cover is luminaries. Luminaries can be either candle based or electric light based. All the following construction methods can be used in either case; the only exception is with an electric light you will need to create a small hole for the power cord. The easiest form of luminary is the Simple Cylinder. To make this, throw a small cylinder about 3-4 inches wide and about 5-6 inches tall. The walls can be left solid or after the piece has dried a little, designs can be cut in the walls. An easy method of creating designs is by using cookie cutters to punch out a section of the wall. There are also small shape punches (circle, teardrop, square, etc.) that can be purchased and used to create patterns as well. Finally and x-acto knife can be used to hand cut any pattern in the wall of the piece. The one thing you will want to be careful with is not to create sections in the wall that are very narrow. These joints will very likely crack or break during the Raku firing. The next form is the cylinder with a lid. The same basic shapes are thrown as above except lids to fit on the top are created as well. With this form you will definitely want to cut designs out of the walls to allow the light (either candle or electric) to shine through the wall. When these shapes are used you have to be careful with the lid. It will get very hot, especially if a candle is used as the light source. The third basic form is tray with a cover, which is like an upside down version of the cylinder with lid. With this form a shallow tray is created and then a cylinder form is created it sit within the tray. The cylinder form is again decorated by carving sections out of the walls. When this form is used, the top will again get hot during use but the sides should generally stay cool. There are thousands of variations that could be applied to these basic forms to create your own unique form of luminary. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Q & A * Q: Will the burn candle hurt the luminary? A: Since the Raku luminary is fired to 1800F a candle burning at just a few 100 degrees will not affect or damage the piece. You may want to be careful when handling the top of the piece as it may get hot, and the bottom when the candle gets shorter. When using candles, you may want to use the kind that come in a little glass jar to keep wax from building up on the inside of the piece. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Glazing * Dynasty Blue - Laguna One of the glazes I use frequently is Dynasty Blue sold by Laguna clay. It is sold in a power form that you just mix with water. It is a very runny glaze so you should apply very thin layers towards the bottom of a piece. Applying thicker layers towards the top of a piece can produce a nice drip effect. You should obtain glossy blue and some green with light reduction. With heavy reduction you will get flashes of red, burgundy, and copper. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Bookworm * The Penland Book of Ceramics: Master Class in Ceramic Techniques. http://tinyurl.com/arhm This is one of the latest Lark Book publications and is a good mixture of technical instruction and pictorial galleries. Ten artists are examined in depth. Each section starts with an overview of the artist, how they got introduced to clay, what influences their work, and some of their work ethics. Then they move on to show step by step how to create one of their "signature" pieces. Finally each section ends with a gallery of work by both the artist and from other artists that have similarly influenced work. It's a very nice mix of personal, technical, and visual information. There are quite a variety of different techniques discussed and detailed by the artists. Angelica Pozo focuses on mosaic pieces and details how to work with tiles. I think some of these techniques would lend themselves to some very interesting Raku wall art. Michael Sherril works primarily with an extruder but his work does not look like the typical extruder pieces. He extrudes sectional pieces that he tapers and closes at both ends. Then he carves, alters, and combines the pieces to create very organic looking structures. Nick Joerling creates pieces that seem filled with motion. He primarily throws on the wheel and then does aggressive alterations and sectional combinations to create the final "dancing" forms. Joe Bova concentrates primarily on the human form. He details creating a mid section figure from slabs of clay. He uses an interesting combination of cuts, additions, and pressing in and out on the clay to create a three dimensional form from slabs. Six other artists are detailed which include focuses on coiling, slip casting, majolica, large vessels, underglaze painting, and surface treatments. There are not a lot of examples of actual Raku fired work, but there few examples, such as a tall vase by Cynthia Bringle (one of the detailed artists) and a prone figure sculpture by Justin Novak (one of the gallery artists). Overall I think the Penland Book of Ceramics is a good book if you are interested in exploring some new way of working with clay or some new techniques to apply to your current work. It is almost like 10 mini workshops in a book. This hardcover book is available right now for 30% off at Amazon.com http://tinyurl.com/arhm Remember all purchases made using the links in this newsletter helps support the newsletter and website. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Calendar * My full calendar can be seen at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/events.htm Art and Roses Eagle Holiday Bazaar Others are coming. The publication of "500 Bowls" by Lark Book has been
completed and is available at: http://tinyurl.com/8jc7 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Click Away * Northwind Pottery New Candles My Candle Holders Just Raku Newsletter Archive http://www.JustRaku.com ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ This newsletter is send to opt-in members only. If this issue was forwarded to you and you would like your own copy each month send an email to subscribe@garyrferguson.com with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. If you wish to no longer receive this newsletter send a 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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