My first experience with Raku was back in college when my ceramics teacher told us to bring over a bisque piece over to his house that weekend… and a bag lunch… it's a long process.

The idea behind Raku is to paint pottery with special glazes which crackle easily and preferably contain lead. The pottery is put into a kiln and fired until it has reached approximately 1800 degrees. When the glaze is molten and 'running', the pottery is taken out of the kiln with tongs and put into a galvanized container (I use a trash can) which has combustible material in it (newspaper, sawdust, pine needles, etc). Once the flame is extinguished, the pottery is taken out with the tongs and put into a cold water bath.

This process involves a temperature 'shock' to the glaze and in turn produces some pretty amazing effects. Glazes containing lead turn out with copper, silver or gold metallic finishes. The clay which was not glazed is burnt ash black, and sometimes there is a crackling of the glaze and the black pottery shows through.

Raku is exciting for me because you never know what the results will look like, it's a surprise every time. Not to mention the thrill of taking pottery out of a hot kiln and putting it in a fiery trash can.

My good friend, Carrie, who also shares in my pottery passion, was coming to visit me from out of town when I had the idea of doing our own Raku firing at my workshop. Without hesitation, we immediately went out and bought flame retardant gloves, sleeves and aprons.

I have started throwing Raku parties about every couple of months. I love to have my friends and family over to take part in this awesome event. It could be a fascination with fire or love of everything unique… but whatever it is… it's a breathtaking experience.

For more information, visit the Raku entry on Wikipedia.