Huvumeny
| RAKU POTTERY |
In the late 70s I came in as a special student at Konstfackskolan for ceramic studys. As special student, I had previlege to get hold of a lot of pottery. I got stuck once on a Japanese technique called RAKU. The process from lump of clay to finished product could be at the best case to perhaps only half a day in claims & then the vessel both bisque-fired & glazed. Time passed and insecyrity that could support himself as a potter became larger and larger. So I saddled on the o-trained confectioner me to the third generation. After almost 30 years as pastry chef to have an old passion flared up again. Passion'm still RAKU. RAKU word expresses pleasure, ease, grace, peace and happiness & descended from 1500s Japan, which even then, along with China & Korea had a centuries-old tradition of pottery & porcelain. RAKU had a close relationship with theaceremonies and Zen Buddhism. One thumbed up their own theabowls, which was very beautiful in its simplicity. The pottery is lowburnt leaving a porous chippings with good insulating capacity. These days the bisque-firing mostly takes place in an electric kiln, the second firing either mostly occurs in gas, wood or in a propanekiln. The cargo is removed from the kiln with a long specialmade RAKU tongs when it is between 800-1100 degrees & hot dipping such as straw, sawdust. Then down in cold water, the methods are many, depending on what effect you want. Temperature shock makes the glaze and in some cases the goods crackel considerably, which is typical for this type of pottery & gives it a much specific character. The receptacles are not watertight if they are not glazed inside. So RAKU pottery is not primarily designed to be use goods. Stephen Johnson-Petersen |
