What is Raku Pottery?!

What a great question! In this post I will be giving you a run down on what Raku pottery is, and how it is done! 

Raku firing is an ancient Japanese technique used to create stunningly unique finishes in your ceramic surfaces. By using extreme heat and combustable materials, Raku glazes are activated and brought to life while raw clay becomes smokey black. 

The process involves steadily heating ceramics to 1000 degrees celsius in an outdoor Raku kiln. The pots are then removed with tongs and placed into barrels filled with combustible materials such as saw dust, news print, leaves, anything that will catch fire! The pots are then covered and allowed to reduce in the barrels for a period of time. During this time, the glazes are reacting with the different combustible materials, and the unglazed clay is turning black from the smoke. After some time, the pots are removed from the barrels with tongs and then quenched in water. They cool quite rapidly and are able to be scrubbed clean very soon after submerging. You can then admire the different glaze results! Typical effects you see in Raku pottery include black crackles, metallic flashes, and oily swirls of colour. It all depends on the glaze you use and the materials you add to your barrel!

Raku is incredibly interesting, and very volatile. Pots can easily crack or break during the firing because of the extreme stresses they are put under. It is nearly impossible to create the same results twice making each pot a truly unique piece of art to be cherished and admired. 

Always remember that Raku is not food safe, so don't eat or drink out of your Raku purchases!

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Here is a link to my youtube channel, where you can see some Raku firing in action: