Tools

The Dolan trim tools and Mud wire tool

The new stamp

               This week in the studio was spent buying some new tools from a supplier in town. Wayne Petefish owns GJ Clay and has a great set-up with clay, tools, glazes, etc...I spent a long time searching for the appropriate trim tool and talking pottery with Wayne. I decided to buy a few of the Dolan trim tools. They work wonderfully. I purchased three different ones and they all did an amazing job on my pots. I also purchased a Mud Tools wire tool. Mud Tools makes a silicone coated wire tool that doesn't kink and has great handles. Wayne showed me a new item he is carrying. He just ordered some detailed wooden stamps. He let me test them in clay and they gum up and get clay stuck in the design. I bought two, one has an intricate flower design and the other has a simple leaf print. I enjoy stamping and can't wait to try out my new stamps on a piece...photos to come.

               After my shopping adventure I went back to the studio and focused the rest of my day on taping some raku pieces. I use an automotive pin stripe tape on pieces to get a clean wavy line. Pin stripe tape is the best to use because it is flexible and doesn't tear when it's stretched over a pot. Here is a picture of a raku piece I did. The black lines are where the pin stripe tape was. The glaze I used is a dolphin luster on the bottom and a copper luster on the top.

Meet Minerva

This week in the studio was spent enjoying the nice weather throwing on my wheel in my garage studio. I realized while throwing on it that you haven't been introduced to my pottery wheel, Minerva. I got Minerva in April of 2010. It's previous owner was Gusti, a potter in Eckert. Minerva is a Bailey ST100. I love throwing on it. My sister Morgann and I named her Minerva after the Greek goddess of creation and destruction. I thought the description was perfect for pottery. When I took the trip to Eckert I also made a stop at the Creamery Art Center in Hotchkiss. The Creamery is a great gallery and working studio. I had the privilege of meeting David Price the potter in residence. The bathrooms were  amazing works of art. They blew me away. One was made of glass shards and the other was made of mosaic pottery shards. The pictures above are one of me throwing on Minerva and the others are of the creamery.

               I also spent some time this week glazing my 25 mugs and a tea set. I am glazing all of them with an oribe (green) glaze. I will post pictures when they all come out of the kiln. I got an order to make five tea bowls and a matching tea pot. I did some abstract brush work on the tea bowls and tea pot with blue, green, black, and brown stains. I glazed it with a thin dip of a clear overglaze.

The story of Raku

          This week in the studio was spent firing raku. In one of my previous blogs I explained how my class fires raku at The Art Center. In this blog I am going to tell you about the history of raku. The pottery technique, raku, started in Japan in the 16th century. It is thought that Koreans developed the technique under Japanese rule, but the exact details of how it was created is still a mystery. Sen no Rikyu, a well-known historical figure in tea ceremony, was the first person to drink out of a handmade raku tea bowl during the tea ceremony. Sen Rikyu requested the tile maker, Chojiro, to make him a tea bowl for the ceremony. Chojiro is now known as the first raku ware master.

               When firing raku in America or in Japan the process has slight differences. The Japanese pull their work from the kiln and either leave them in the open air or dip them in water or tea to crash cool the pieces. This is why most Japanese tea bowls are either a dark earthy color or a vibrant green from the glaze oxidizing. Paul Soldner brought the raku firing process from Japan to America in the 1950's. Paul also developed what is known as "American Raku." American Raku is similarly fired. When firing American Raku the pieces are fired in a gas kiln to approximately 1800 degrees. Immediately after removing the pot from the kiln the piece is put in to a firing chamber with combustibles. The combustibles ignite from the heat of the piece and then the firing chamber lid is placed on to start the post fire reduction process. During post fire reduction the fire consumes all the oxygen in the can, which can create the effect of extraordinary colors appearing in raku luster glazes.

               I want to end this blog with a quote from Paul Soldner because it describes firing raku perfectly. Paul Soldner said "In the spirit of raku: make no demands, expect nothing, follow no absolute plan, be secure in change, learn to accept another solution and, finally, prefer to gamble on your own intuition." The world art community lost Paul Soldner in January 2011 at the age of 89, but his legacy lives on in many artists.