What’s special about raku firing is that the pots are taken out of the kiln when they’re still red-hot, and are then placed directly into a vessel containing wood shavings or sawdust.
When the contents of the vessel catch fire due to the heat of the clay, the vessel is closed and everything is left to smoke for about 10 minutes. In those areas where the clay is not covered by glaze, the pot will turn black as the smoke soaks into the clay, creating a nice contrast with the raku glaze.
The thermal shock causes the glaze to develop hairline cracks, known as craquelé. Very natural, fascinating and wonderfully unpredictable!
Once you’ve experienced raku, you can continue on exploring with naked raku or rako with horsehair.
