GOBLET AND LUNAR CYCLES

Photo by Claudia Lowery
May 2010
Goblet designed and created in clay by Dennis O'Bryant.

SOME LIKE IT HOT

I am removing my large vase from the kiln.



Working the reduction fire in cedar sawdust.

Extreme heat.

Vase ignites into flames when it touches the sawdust.

Duality.


Dennis O'Bryant's head piece "Messenger" cooling off in
sawdust.



Dennis in a double exposure surrounded by flames.
Notice the faint image in front of his face...smiling.
Probably one of my favorite photos of him because it was
so unpredictable...like the raku process.

Charlotte's beautiful red hair. This is an interesting photo.
This is how it looked when I took it. The background is
dark because we were outdoors at night. However.....

...when I equalized the photo digitally Dennis mysteriously
appears in the background...working the fire.

Charlotte in green.


Charlotte and fiance' Abel warm their hands by the kiln.

Yes....it is a fire breathing dragon!
This sculpture was a joint project of Ben and Richard.
Ben is Erin's husband and Richard is a neighbor's child.
Richard is also in my 5th grade art class. He was out of town
but wow...will he be surprised at the results!

Dennis, Susan, and Kay relaxing between firings.

Great results for a full moon night.

We sampled a little horsehair raku.

Last raku of 2008. Chilly, windy, fun, and always leaving
us wanting more. It's always an exciting, dangerous, fulfilling
experience with friends alongside to witness it all.

Three of my raku pottery pieces.

Inside the best piece...my signature gingko leaves.


Unpredictable and satisfying results.


Amazing color this time.






And this is me turning the piece in sawdust after the raku firing.

FRIENDS from CLAY CLASS

Kathy

Margot and Susan


Kay


Beautiful Myrna


Dennis checking out one of his sculptures.

Margot's mask fresh out of the ashes, before washing.

Spitting fire from the kiln! WOW!

Erin, my teacher, watches Dennis at work.

Dennis' sculpture, the burning man, with fire coming from
his nose and ears.

Richard and Ben sit on the sidelines during all the action.

Ben is helping Richard scuplt a dragon from clay.

Another exciting raku party at Erin's. For almost 2 years now I've been learning the processes of clay and pottery, but nothing matches raku firing outdoors. It is wild, dangerous, and unpredictable with amazing results. However, I had one piece break, several small cracks, and one come out so-so that wasn't too impressive. That, too, is part of the process...handling disappointment and frustration...a good lesson for life. Sometimes, despite our greatest hopes and efforts, things just don't go according to our feeble plans. That's when you learn to trust God, wait for the results, and hopefully there will be something beautiful emerge from the ashes. And even if the thing you hold in your hand misses the mark of beauty, you can always find that other "lesson" that was intended for that moment. So very much to be learned in the fire. Thanks Erin for letting us fire it up last Friday.

Also, for a lot more photos of this awesome process visit http://denoart.blogspot.com/ for Dennis O'Bryant's take on the night.


COMMENTS:
Deno said...
Your pieces came out Great!