Art Class Makes Raku Fired Artworks
Last week, Ms. Terise Janca '93’s art class created artworks using a rapid-firing pottery technique called Raku. This technique involves placing pieces in an extremely hot kiln and then removing the pieces and placing them immediately in metal containers.
These metal containers are filled with dry organic materials such as sawdust, newspaper, other paper and wood chips. These are then sealed, allowing the heat from the pottery to combust the materials and give the pottery its colorful appearance.
Ms. Janca began class by discussing safety procedures and the proper equipment required for using the kiln. She then placed newspaper and sawdust in a metal container and asked the students to hypothesize about what would happen if she added fire to the materials. This exercise aimed to demonstrate how the fire would be contained within the container, creating different colors in the glaze depending on the materials used inside, thus achieving various effects on the pottery. Finally, each student had the opportunity to fire multiple pieces and experiment with different finishing effects.
Thank you, Ms. Janca for providing this unique art opportunity to students!
