Investigations into the Crater......

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 pestle to produce a dry crater surface. All very exciting and at this stage I'm still very much a beginner. But I am beginning to see a future in working with these exciting and unpredictable surfaces- I may just have got the "bug" all over again....

Recent lava glaze tests- between 1235 and 1260 c in an electric kiln
(Silicon carbide slip under white/turquoise silicon carbide glaze.)

Thanks to experienced Potters-Jan Lewin-Cadogan, Dameon Lynn and Norman Yap for their "Facebook" support, advice and encouragement!

Comments

Making and firing Raku tiles

I have just had in one or two orders and enquiries concerning Raku tiles. Making them can drive you to despair- what with their tendancy to warp, crack and shrink! It's amazing how something so simple is in actual fact so hard to make. It's also very difficult to lift a flat object out of the kiln with tongs from a red hot kiln. Well, with some prior experience, I've developed a firing system for tiles now which is now working pretty well. Quite simply, I lay each tile on a flat bed of ceramic fibre. That way each tile is raised slightly off the kiln shelf- and it's then easy to grasp the tile with tongs and drop into your reduction chamber/smoking bin. I stack two or three kiln shelves and can pack in about 20 tiles in one batch - depending on size. I do let the kiln cool slightly before carefully removing each shelf of tiles. I back off the gas- get each shelf of tiles out- then power back up to temperature and repeat till they're all safely ...

Good-bye for now see you around the internet!

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Mo Jupp

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