Shaun Hall's Raku Ceramics Blogspot

November November.... I have been busy making and throwing bowls for Raku firing over the Christmas period, and toying with the idea of making a little wood fired Raku kiln. This would be based upon Nesrin During's example in Ceramic Arts Daily. I think though in all honestly- this might have to wait until Spring! In the meantime- I am going through some of my older stock- shipping work to a few galleries- and hopefully re opening my Etsy web shop soon- so I can ship Internationally.  I still let a few pieces go at lower prices on eBay- I get lots of seconds as you can imagine- through Raku firing...anyway here's a lot from my current ebay auction. See you soon... Auction Listing:    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261338764801?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Totem II

I was really pleased to receive  a 2nd place at the EWAAC awards last week in London. This was an exhibition and awards for UK and Japanese artists and craftspeople. I submitted  a  copper matte Raku "Jug". (Pictured in an earlier post.) I think it made  a fitting end to my  association with the awards- and trumps my first year "runner up". But, time to move on - although there is talk of some of the artists exhibiting in Kyoto , (the home of Raku pottery) now that would be nice. Anyway, I haven't had much time to make new work recently, so I hope this week I can find time to restart again. I've got plans to make lots of smaller work, in the vein of the "Menhirs"- which seem to be selling well. Long may it continue is all I can say.... What's on... Looking ahead- I'm resupplying Haddenham Galleries in Ely later this week .  http://www.haddenhamgallery.co.uk/    I also got my entry off for the Vasefinder   2014 competiti...

For about the past 3 years I have been lucky enough to get selected for the annual EWAAC exhibition and awards. The EWAAC society  is primarily about  promoting  new talent and emerging artists in all mediums, and helps to foster artistic connections between the UK and Japan. This will probably be my last entry this year, as I feel I have been very lucky so far to get shortlisted 3 years running! Creatively I could also do with a bit of time and space to try out new directions too.  I felt it good to bow out on a high with this Raku Nuclear Jug piece- which is the sister piece to my Chelmsford Museum Jug. I am very fond of this piece- and it was a tremendous effort to get 2 large sized copper matte works  to fire successfully without breaking!  The exhibition is free to enter and takes place in London at La Galeria, Pall Mall during the last week of October.  For more info  http://www.ewaaward.com/artists/judges/view/3D-133028 ...

Urn-est work.... I was recently commissioned to make a Raku Urn for a customer in Essex. Several were thrown and turned and then Raku fired- yielding extremely differing results. The nice part of a commissioned work is that the customer gets to choose their own particular favourite and more often than not- they invariably choose the stand out piece with no  hesitation. This one pictured below was my own favourite and was duly dispatched to the customer.

Well as promised I thought I'd post my replica pot on the blog. It's bound for a friend to use as resource material for a schools project which she's planning. It is based on Neolithic coil pots found at White Colne in Essex. 

In between a spot of experimental archaeology over the summer I found time to get some Raku firings done. I've been taking the temperature up higher for the copper matte's - between 1050/1070 degrees c. Generally this means with some controlled timings of at least 2 "burps" of letting oxygen into the reduction bin- that results and colours are more stable and uniform. As a consequence of firing at hotter temperatures- the colour palette is also somewhat different. I can get blues,  reds and greens- but gold and pink is now harder to come by! These tend to occur at lower temperatures- around the 1000-1040 mark- and are more fleeting. They are often superb- but can easily result in drab mottled browns and olive greens. Not what you want. They are sometimes redeemable by twice firing- but that's a risky business. Oh well I'm quite happy with these new results anyway- and percentage wise- it's better to fire hotter- with 2 time controlled bursts of air ...

A good friend and colleague set me a challenge recently to make a series of Neolithic bucket pots for a Primary school teaching initiative which she is setting up. She is collating some resource materials to send to schools- and asked for a replica pot based on the finds from White Colne in Essex. Not too far away from here I live in Halstead, interestingly.  With nothing but a jpeg drawing to go on, I have imagined this replica pot- constructed from coils. This was a good laugh to do as I 'm not normally known for my coiling technique. In fact I'm pretty awful so I have a lot of respect for these Neolithic Essex potters.  Anyway, because I live in a built up area I am going to saggar fire them in my Raku kiln with wood shavings and straw to try and replicate the wood fired finish of the originals. Albeit in a more modern manner!