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!