Lucille Bart, Artbeat Studio’s Executive Director, offers a workshop in Raku pottery firing. Raku is an ancient Japanese firing-technique featuring delicate vessels and brilliant metallic lustre glazes. Firings take place outdoors, in Carman, MB. The raku firings are open to allumni, current resident artists, and volunteers. The firings are held semi-annually, depending on interest.
“Raku” is an ancient Japanese pottery firing technique meaning “enjoyment and freedom” and has been referred to as fire painting. The colours vary greatly dependant on the chemistry of the precious metallic luster glazes and elemental influences. The outcome of each piece can never be certain, but it is always beautiful and unique in its own way.
The process of Raku firing involves rapidly heating and cooling the pottery, during which each piece undergoes extreme thermal shock. Breakage is a high risk and the process results in unavoidable wreckage making surviving pieces all the more precious. The firing is done outdoors with a propane torch. The glowing red-hot pottery is taken out of the flames with tongs and put in a container full of paper, straw, wood shavings or other combustible materials where it smolders. It is during this stage that different colours visibly develop. Finally, the pottery piece is doused in cool water and the colours set.
The product can have a smoky appearance and scent, and will often be very light in weight and fragile. The delightful combination of earth, water, wind and fire is embodied in this one of a kind creation.
For more details about Artbeat Studio’s raku firings, please call us at (204) 943-5194, or email us at contact@artbeatstudio.ca.
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