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Raku

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THE RAKU PROCESS:
Raku  firing  was originally developed in Japan.  It involved the rapid firing of ceramics  without cooling  in a kiln.  It was later modified by an American named Paul Soldner, who is considered to be the father of the raku process now used by many ceramic artists.  The main variation between the Japanese style of raku, and that developed by Paul Soldner  is the process of rapid cooling of the pot  by quenching in water.  As you can imagine, the  rapid changes in temeperature put a great deal of stress on the clay.  
 
Throwing Trimming bisque firing Glazing
Throwing the pot on the wheel
Trimming the foot of the pot once it is leather hard
Looking into the port of a red hot bisque firing
Glazing the inside of a pot
hot pot Reduction Quenching Cleaning
Glaze firing:  Pulling the hot pot from the kiln.
  Post firing reduction: Placing the pot in a can with combustible materials.
After the hot pot is removed from the reduction container, it is quenched in cold water.
 Finishing: Washing carbon deposits off of the  pot.
 


Amber makes liberal use of a style known as "Naked  Raku".  In this process, the black and white  shadow  effect is created by coating the bisque ware with a raw clay slip.  This slip cracks away from the pot as it dries.  In the smoking process, it acts as a mask protecting some areas from the smoke, yet allowing the smoke to penetrate in the cracks  There is no glaze involved in this technique, and it is difficult to control the cracking due to the  variations achieved by the speed and temperature of  drying.

The combination of smooth clay surface  along with  the contrasting black color created by the smoke, and the white color of  the clay creates a pleasing dichotomy in her work.