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New Raku

It's May in England, and after a long season of making, I'm about ready to start the process of Raku firing all over again. It's cyclical with me, lots of mental preparation as well as practical, in terms of physically mixing enough glaze batches. Checking the glaze is thick enough, dipping, pouring, dipping and pouring again...stacking the kiln....lighting the kiln....waiting, tongs at the ready!

This time around I've experimented a lot more with overlapping glaze, and half burying pots in wood shavings. Still getting a heavy reduction, but with less black and soot carbonization from the direct contact with  the wood shavings. It's pretty interesting- some gold resulting, but mildly suicidal! (For the pot not the potter hopefully)  I've only been doing this 18 years....









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