You may recall me talking about a possible Raku firing for my Micaceous clay class (click here.) When I heard about the possible results for this process (a silver/black iridescent finish) I had in mind the 3 little wolf pups & the mini bean pot. It was a fun process & I was super excited about the results! Here they are~
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| Good Things Come in Three's |
I totally love them!
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| Wolf Pup Meeting |
So, you know me~ I got a little carried away with photographing them!
:)
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| Taking Time to Contemplate the Little Things |
I couldn't help it, they're just so darn cute!
The backside shows the random iridescent pattern made by the firing.
Here's the mini bean pot. I can't help but love it, too! The random patterns combined with the shape make me think of viewing the earth from space.
A little close up of the patterning. In case you're not familiar w/Raku (which I was not) I'll give a a very brief synopsis. After the pieces are bisqued, they are put in the Raku (gas) kiln & fired very hot, very fast. My understanding is that there are a few different ways to go about it, but in this case the pieces were then moved carefully w/ long metal tongs & thrown into a steel can with sawdust. The sawdust immediately goes up in flames, the lid is closed & the sawdust burns down & then the pots are ready to come out.
My hot pot, sitting in a pile of ashes.
In the pic below, I think she was either pointing at a pattern made by the firing, or the sawdust embers still glowing.
(click to enlarge for a better view.)
I'm telling you- this was some exciting stuff! I wish I would have gotten pics of the entire process, but I was busy throwing in the sawdust & dodging smoke & flames! But, we'll likely do another firing tomorrow, so I'll try to get more pics of this fascinating process. I am totally hooked on clay and all the amazing directions you can go with it!
:)
