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To Get the FREE Monthly Just Raku Newsletter Just enter your name and main email address below and click join Privacy Policy - Your email address or other personal information will only be used for this newsletter. It will never be given, rented, or sold to any other party for any other purposed. Recent Kudos I just received the Raku piece that
I ordered over your website and wanted to let you know how pleased I am.
The piece is beautiful! Thank you for responding so quickly to the
E-mail and getting it shipped right out. We love it...it will look wonderful
where we wanted to hang it. Yours are the best works I've seen. I like cross-culturing and that interplay between styles. Lidia B - Argentina Your work is incredibly Just to let you know that my
mother really really loved the piece of Raku that you sent her Your pieces look simply beautiful Denise M. - NC
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Artist’s Statement
As a young child, I was always interested in the arts. I did lots of drawing and took oil painting lessons during my pre-teen years, and I took a couple of art classes in college. Hence, I am primarily a self-taught potter. In 1995, I threw my first pot on a wheel and was instantly hooked on this messy medium. I quickly bought my own wheel and built a propane fired Raku kiln to fire the pieces. Since that day I have read books and magazines, visited museums, and attend workshops to learn new forms, techniques, and methods of working with clay. My main focus has been with wheel-thrown forms, because I enjoy the fluidity and symmetry of the thrown form. I have started experimenting with using a small blowtorch to quickly dry portions of the piece while it is still on the wheel so that more extreme forms can be thrown without collapsing. My primary firing technique is Raku. Raku is a firing method in which the piece is glazed and fired in a kiln to a temperature of about 1800 F. When the glaze has melted, the piece is removed from the red-hot kiln with metal tongs, and placed in a metal container with combustible materials like newspaper or sawdust. The red-hot piece immediately ignites the combustible material causing flames and smoke. A lid is placed on the container and the fire consumes the oxygen in the container. This lack of oxygen creates what is called a reduction atmosphere. This atmosphere with the smoke, react with the clay and glaze to create unpredictable metallic and lustrous effects. As a result, every piece is unique because the exact process can never be reproduced. My main influences have been from Japanese, Chinese, and Celtic art. I am drawn to the geometric patterns that are present in much of this type of art and use it in designing my own pieces. I often times will combine elements from various cultures into a single form, such as Celtic symbols on a classic shape, or Chinese designs on a Greek form. I maintain a web site at www.garyrferguson.com with which I display a gallery of pieces, schedule of events, and a comprehensive list of Raku recipes that I have collected from various sources. I am also a member of the Idaho Clay Arts Guild who maintain a site at www.idahoclayartsguild.org My studio resides in Nampa, ID where my wife, Gina, our sons, Connor and Trevor live. I can be reached via e-mail at pottery@garyrferguson.com Gary R. Ferguson |
Galleries If you have a gallery and are interested in showing my work, please contact me. Publications Fired up with Raku (2006) by Irene Poulton (chapter contribution) Raku Secrets (2005) by Gary Ferguson Raku Glazes (2004) by Gary Ferguson 500 Bowls (2003) by Lark Books Pottery Making Illustrated Oct 2003 Awards 2000 Best of Division - Pottery-Stoneware - Western Idaho Fair 2000 First Place - Raku - Western Idaho Fair 2000 First Place - Wheel Thrown - Western Idaho Fair 2000 First Place - Fine Arts Pottery - Western Idaho Fair 2000 Featured Artist of the Month - Nampa Civic Center Workshops/Seminars 2003 - Richard Notkin 2002 - Robert Piepenburg 2002 - Gil Harrison 2000 - Brad Schwieger 1998 - Yoshiro Ikeda 1997 - Josh DeWeese 1997 - Jim Romberg Where my pieces have been collected Alaska
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