Raku - American Style

Although the style of firing pots in a small kiln and pulling them out while still glowing hot is a Japanese tradition, in the United States the term "raku" is commonly used to reference the style invented by Paul Soldner.

Soldner's method involves placing the hot pots in a container filled with combustable material such as sawdust, leaves, newspaper, etc. The effect is that the heavy reduction atmosphere creates unique colors and patterns in the glaze, and the smoke imparts a charcoal black finish on any unglazed surface. This especially emphasizes the crackle effect that's inherent on most raku fired pieces.

I've been experimenting quite a bit with this American-style raku firing, and will be posting more photos to my Flickr page in the near future.