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The Newsletter for Raku Artists and Raku Art Lovers In This Issue ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ I want to welcome all the new subscribers this month and hello again to all the existing subscribers. We broke over 400 subscribers this month. Remember, feel free to forward this issue to all your potter friends. They can subscribe to their own copy using the links at the bottom of the newsletter. This month we look at topics dealing with reduction such as Cleaning Raku, Smokeless Raku, High Altitudes Raku, and Smoke as a Decoration. Several of these topics came from your questions and feedback, so keep those emails coming. I look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas at: editor@garyrferguson.com. Gary R. Ferguson ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * From the Studio * This month in the studio has been a little busy. I've been glazing and firing work for a show I had June 1st. The first show of the year is always a little more work and a little more stressful than other shows during the year because it takes a while to get back to what needs to be done, what has to be packed, and the "where the heck did I put that's" have to be answered. But, everything turned out well. The last two years I have done this show I have frozen to death if you can believe that for a June show, so I was glad to have near perfect weather this year. This seemed to bring out the shoppers and I had a really good show with steady sales all day long. I believe the next show I'll have is in August, so I have time to work up some more designs by then. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Tips and Techniques * Cleaning Raku Cleaning the Raku piece after removing it from the reduction chamber is everyone's favorite job, right? If not, you might be happy using some of the following techniques I use. The sooner the piece can be cleaned the better. If the pot is still a little warm the carbon releases much easier. Generally a green scrubby sponge makes a great tool to remove the carbon deposits from the glaze. If the carbon is a little more stubborn, a nice cleanser like Soft Scrub helps to remove the carbon. It also has an added benefit of covering up the Raku smell with a Clorox smell. For more stubborn carbon, I use low grit of steel wool, which works pretty good. It is a good idea to wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from
excess chapping. Having your hands in and out of the water several times,
being wet and then dry repeatedly, and then being exposed to abrasive
materials like cleanser, steel wool, or scrubby pads can really take a
toll on your hands if they are not protected. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Article * Smokeless Raku When you think of Raku, you probably think lots of smoke, and this is generally true, but there are a few techniques that can reduce or completely eliminate the amount of smoke that you have to deal with. The first method involves using water over the reduction chamber. This works pretty good with garbage cans. After you place the piece in the garbage can and replace the lid, either spray or pour water over the top of the lid. The water quickly cools the lid, which causes the heated and expanded metal to shrink a bit. This provides a tighter seal and should reduce the amount of smoke that escapes from the container. The second method also works well with garbage cans. In this case you place wet newspapers across the lid. After the piece is placed in the can, the lid containing the wet sheets of newspaper is placed over the can. The wet newspaper provides a better seal around the edge than just metal on metal. The third method usually works better with smaller reduction chambers. This involves a sand pit. The piece is removed from the kiln and placed on a bed of combustible materials in a pit of sand. A metal container, such as a metal bucket, washtub, or even a garbage can, is placed upside down over the piece. The rim of the container is pushed into the sand, which provides almost an airtight seal. Additional sand can be pushed up around the rim if smoke is still escaping. Finally the fourth method is the water lock. This method is very similar to the sand method but involves water instead of sand. This can work well using a metal tub and a very small garbage can. The piece is removed from the kiln and placed on a set of bricks in the metal tub. The tub contains a few inches of water that is below the height of the bricks. A small can is then placed upside down over the piece with the rim submerged into the water. This proved an airtight seal in which no smoke escapes. To keep the combustibles out of the water with this method, it works better to put the combustibles in the can that will be placed over the piece. This way as the can is placed over the piece to provide a seal, the combustibles in the bottom of the can fall onto the piece, ignite, and start the reduction process. Each of these reduction methods will provide a new factor of the Raku process and may keep you from tearing up. ~~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~- * Q & A * Q: How does elevation affect a Raku firing? A: Elevation can have a significant impact on a Raku firing in a couple of areas - especially with a gas-fired kiln. First the higher the altitude the "lighter" the air, meaning there are less oxygen molecules in the same volume of air at high altitudes versus sea level. Hence it requires more "light" air to provide the same amount of oxygen to a firing kiln than normal air. This means you probably need a larger port opening and a large flue opening in your kiln to allow in more air. Second you probably need a smaller orifice (the little hole) in your burner so less fuel is mixed with the air. Now unfortunately the gas used to fire the kiln will more quickly expand in "lighter" air so it will not provide the same magnitude of firepower as slower expanding gas would provide. So this means it will take more time to get a kiln to temperature at higher elevation. Having less oxygen in the air will make heavy reduction easier (both in the kiln and post-firing). So if you want a piece to be oxidized or lightly reduced you will likely need to let the piece cool more before it is placed in the reduction chamber. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Glazing * No Glaze What kind of a glaze is no glaze? Well with Raku, what is left unglazed is sometimes almost as exciting as what is glazed. You can achieve everything from bare clay color, to gray, to deep black by controlling the smoke in the posting firing reduction process. If you reduce in an open container or with little to no reduction materials, the piece will stay clay colored. If the piece is packed against reduction materials so smoke cannot easily penetrate the clay it will appear various shades of gray. If the piece is exposed to massive amounts of smoke, it will penetrate the clay and produce and nice flat black color. Jim Romberg is one example of a Raku potter that attempts to influence the effect of smoke on each piece he fires. Some examples of his pieces are show in the Click Away section. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Bookworm * The Complete Potter by Steve Mattison It's always a good sign when there is a piece of Raku pottery on the cover of a book. This book is a good combination of technical information accompanied with lots of wonderful examples from a variety of different artists. The books starts out with an overview of clay, and the various types of clay including an example of a Raku clay body and recipe for those who are inclined to mix their own clay. Mattison mentions coloring clay with oxides. This might provide and interesting technique for the Raku potter, to color a clay and then use a clear crackle glaze to product colorful crackle. The next sections cover a variety of construction methods such as handbuilding, throwing, molds, etc. including a section on the aspects of design and how to create new and exciting forms. One topic that is not generally covered in many technical pottery books is large sculpture and installation ceramics. This book does include small sections on each of these topics including multiple methods of hanging installation pieces. The glazing section covers the various types of glazes, application techniques, and resist methods. Included are some general details of how many chemicals influence a glaze. There are a couple of Raku glaze recipes detailed, but nothing too extensive. The Firing section is probably the most interesting to the Raku potter. There are several low firing techniques that should be of interest: Raku, Saggars, Pit firing, Sawdust firing, and Smoke firing. Each of these methods is closely related and many of the same techniques, equipment, and glaze materials are interchangeable. This section might provide you with a new spark of creativity or a new method to try. Overall, the book is a good introduction to a multitude of pottery materials, techniques, and tools that can provide a springboard into a new or different area of pottery. The page or two dedicated to each topic is not comprehensive but should provide enough information for preliminary experimentation and provide a direction to research for further details from other sources. Steve Mattison appears to be primarily a Raku potters so there are considerable number or Raku examples sprinkled throughout the book. For example, there is an amazing piece in the throwing section of a very large Raku bowl that is 3 feet across. To buy please click http://tinyurl.com/d3st ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Reader Feedback * [In regards to luminary construction] I provide a crystal or clear glass (whatever I can afford at the time) votive candleholder and a couple of votive candles with each luminary and a little blurb on fire safety and, for the Raku pieces, instructions on cleaning and storing. By using the votive glass, the customer can just replace the candle and not need to purchase a candle-in-a-glass each time they want to use their luminary. I have also been known to pour my own votive candles when the mood hits me. Does anyone have a solution to the hot-handle problem with the lidded
forms? I can't find anything made in material that will not absorb the
heat (like the handles on my cooking pot lids) that will fit in with the
design of my Jan C. [In regards to the working with masking tape as a resist] ... I do work with masking tape all the time. I have found you can get
1/4" x 60 yard rolls for as low as 45 cents a roll at uline.com Charles H. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Calendar * My full calendar can be seen at: http://www.garyrferguson.com/events.htm Art and Roses Nampa Art in the Park (Tentative) Eagle Holiday Bazaar (Tentative) Beaux Arts Society Holiday Sale (Tentative) The publication of "500 Bowls" by Lark Book has been
completed and is available at: http://tinyurl.com/8jc7 ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ * Click Away * Two examples of Jim Romberg's work Interesting Raku from a 2000 Workshop Nice Raku and Smoked Work 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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