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.