Naked Raku-fired Vessel

Firing Proce - Judy Blake

My work is burnished (smoothed), at the leather hard stage with a river stone which gives the surfaces of the pieces, a beautiful silky glow that seems to come from within the pieces. They are then allowed to dry completely and several layers of fine liquid clay called Terra Sigillata are applied and polished after each coat. The pieces are then bisque fired to approximately 1000 degrees Centigrade and are ready for the final firing which involves one of four smoke-firing processes.

This one is called the Naked Raku-firing process. It is a variation derived from Western Raku firing techniques but differs in that these smoked pieces are unglazed. With this process, the piece is coated with a layer of clay slip and after drying, a crackle glazed is poured on top of the slip layer. The slip acts as a barrier or ‘resist’ layer which prevents the melted glaze from adhering to the piece so that the slip and glaze will separate from the clay surface after firing. It is fired in a small propane kiln to 850 degrees Centigrade, removed from the kiln “red-hot” and placed in a metal container with combustibles such as sawdust or newspaper. The fracturing action of the slip and glaze layers when penetrated by the smoke, leaves both striking and subtle patterns of dark, smoked lines on the white clay surface.