SUMMER ADULTS: Raku Firing

INT/ADV     

Course Description:     
Attention potters! Are you interested in learning more about the hands on and exhilarating firing process that we re-introduced to our community this past spring? This summer we will be offering a three-part raku workshop that encompasses the full experience of making, glazing, and firing raku work. The workshop will culminate with a series of group firings of the Umbrella’s raku kiln.

Carli Kusiolek will begin this workshop with a group orientation about the raku process as a whole and considerations for making in preparation for the firings.

The second part of the workshop will offer demonstration of a variety of glaze uses and application techniques that celebrate the unique potentials of raku with some of the studio’s newly crafted raku glazes.

We will culminate with the highly engaging process of firing the work together in the studio’s dedicated raku kiln. During this part of the process, the participants' glazed work will be fired outside to a quick 1865-degree F temperature, unloaded and quickly transported to metal containers full of combustible material, where it will then begin to oxidize, reduce, and cool. The process as a whole is guaranteed to be exciting, exhilarating, and educational and produce unique results that any potter will love. This class is suitable for intermediate-advanced students.

Please note: Registration will allow for at least one fired piece. More work may be fired depending on the number of participants and the scale of work produced. Registration fee includes 6 lbs of raku clay, and all glaze materials and supplies. Registration only available to students currently registered for a full summer class, or the Independent Studio Program. Attendance at all three events is mandatory. Exceptions must be authorized by the Program Manager.