Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

Lava, Crater and Froth Glazes Investigating unknown territory! As  you probably are aware by now- this is a blog all about my Raku work. Well, a long time ago -when starting out at Uni,  I first began my work in clay using  stoneware electric kiln firing. This was way before "getting the bug" for Raku in my final year. I've dabbled a bit with lava glaze effects in the  Raku kiln more recently, and that went fairly well- so I've been doing a spot of research into higher temperature firing with lava glazes and slips. No harm in that I thought. About 30 glaze tests later and umpteen fired test bowls, it's been "Interesting" to say the least. I quite like the fact that the results are so tactile and yes just like Raku- so unpredictable. The silicon carbide in the glaze and slip- also add a slight element of Reduction-very subtly -albeit nothing like working with Raku. Some of the crater glazes produce huge bubbles which can be rubbed down with a...

I've been firing up some raku bowls to send out to my local Gallery stockists. It's nice to return to throwing now and again, and anyway it's very therapeutic and I don't have to think about it too much! It's also equally nice to get to play with fire again! These are some of the early results- I'm about halfway through this current batch of firing. There's some nice crackle going on and copper lustres. It was a good day for Raku-ing- calm and still-  so good conditions for the burn!    

Venue Magazine Pottery is a precarious way to earn a living even in "good times", but these are difficult conditions in which to operate a small business. Suffice to say, it's been  hard going  to make a profit from my work. Rather than get too depressed about it, I've hunkered down in the studio. It's a actually a good time to take stock- see what's not working and try out something new. There's nothing to lose! Consequently  I've fired up the kiln a few times and been busy testing out some stoneware lava glaze recipes, which I hope will be be used in conjunction with some outside - sculptural pieces. (For which Raku is less durable) I see them as very much a bridgehead between my Raku work and firing in an electric kiln- indoors.  More on this I am sure as it progresses.  I was quite pleased though with this little feature in the current issue of  Venue Magazine.   It's primarily circulated in the East of England and profiles the ...