In Its Elements - Raku Firing

Raku means "enjoyment". And boy, we had fun. A literal explosion of light, smoke and fire – extraordinary afternoons don’t get much better than this!

It started with discovering a new park in London; the lovely Burgess Park near the mighty Elephant (and Castle). Always a good starting point. Next: arriving and being fed some home-made, Chinese-style dumplings made by the one and only: The-Nam’s-Girlfriend's-Mum. Delicious. And we were yet to begin the Raku at Cernamic - things were certainly looking up :)

I’ve been doing ceramics for several years now. I’ve explored the intricacies of different clays; their varying temperaments and temperatures of firing, while becoming equally accustomed to the glazing techniques, mould making and throwing itself. All endless good fun, sure – ceramics really can provide a lifetime of intrigue.

And then there’s Raku to add to the mix too.

So what is this ‘Raku’ business I keep harping on about…?! Well, I’m glad you asked. Put simply: when you complete your masterpiece in clay (and let it dry out etc.) – it then needs to be fired in a kiln, which is effectively like a large oven that ‘cooks’ your item. They’re expensive, so need to be filled to the max for cost-efficiency and then take a good 12 hours of ‘cooking’ – and again, this all dependent on the type of kiln, the temperature required for the clay and whatnot. Sometimes you’re waiting weeks before you have your work back and that Christmas ceramic pot present for aunty Lily ends up becoming an Easter gift, when you don't even do Easter gifts. Doh.

So instead of all that hanging about, we have Raku-firing at the rescue! An ancient eastern model of firing, yet ironically suits today’s western culture of ‘NOW’. The ‘cooking’ is done in front of you, so you can go home with your completed piece of pottery. Voila! But that’s not the only genius part of it. The genius is in the ‘live’ process of it – the jaw-dropping notion of watching the mini-oven being lit – watching as the temperature rises to its desired 950 degrees Celsius – watching as you have no idea how your work will turn out (eek!). I mean, *wow* - how exciting…?!

So what next? Well, once the desired temperature has been reached, the oven needs to be opened – and no joke: a literal blast of hot furnace air – a live fire - is taken out and carefully controlled, while the items are plucked out and plunged into a dustbin of sawdust – covered in more sawdust - then wet newspaper - and then the final piece: ‘the bin lid’. BOOM! And eureka – it’s completed… (as soon as the temperature cools enough for you to touch it!)

The best part, for me, was the sense of evolutionary change and the incredible amount of energy the whole method possessed. Due to the process of changing temperatures and the interaction with the elements – the colours on our masterpieces kept on and on and on changing – I cannot emphasise the change enough! Right in front of our very eyes! My soap holder or ‘Trevi Fountain V2’, as I prefer to call it, was like a literal chameleon. Amazing.

Magic…? Close… Scientists may beg to differ, though I prefer the Culture Club view of Karma Chameleon ;)

Either way – check out the pics and do give it a whirl!