I started doing Raku through a Japanese Potter in Barcelona bout 10 years ago. I was attending Japanese Ceramic classes at Studio Ku, and my teacher Chisato offered once monthly Raku workshops. The first Raku was simply mesmerizing, the enotire process complete captured my imagination. So I developed this vision of making small and miniature Raku pieces which reflect a sense of preciousness.
About 6 years ago I decided to purchase my own Raku Kiln after a homemade kiln did not really satisfy. I started to mix my own glazes and go through a process of testing and testing and testing in order to try to understand the relationships between all the variables. At the time I had Workawayer's coming to stay and helping me. It was a great time.
The word Raku means to relish a sense of Freedom. Raku is an ancient Japanese Ceramic glazing technique developed in the early 1500’s. It became the Ceremonial tea Ware of the Zen masters and the Tea Ceremony. There is a great element of the unknown at work, and it is very difficult to control the outcomes. Therefore one must really try to have no expectation. During the firing process, the kiln reaches 900 C very quickly. There is a great risk of thermal shock to the wares. Then red-hot, they are placed carefully in reduction barrels with paper and woodchips and smoked. This is what gives Raku the characteristic crackle effects and metallics. After 5 to 10 minutes the objects are plunged into cold water. There is Japanese Raku and Western Raku. It is believed that the spirit of the maker is embodied in the foot ( or unglazed) part of the teacup.
For me, the Raku Process is really about just letting go. Not thinking. One puts no investment in the final result. It is about being in the moment and the fragility of life. In Raku, there are so many variables from the temperature of the kiln, the glazes and how they mix, their age, and how long one leaves the pieces in the reduction. It is impossible to reproduce accurately any affect but this as well is part of it’s beauty.