Raku firing is basically the Punk Rock version of pottery.

You place the piece in a kiln and fire it in a gas fire up to 1,700-2,000 degrees Farenheit, take the piece out while it’s still red hot and place it in a trash can full of newspaper or wood chips and then put the lid on it. After the lid goes on, this is when the magic happens. If the glaze is formulated for “reduction”, the fire burns up all the oxygen and then the glaze steals oxygen from the clay body or the glaze itself and crazy metallic colors form on the glaze surface. It’s never predictable what will happen because there are so many variables.

If the glaze is a “crackle glaze” the glaze will crack from the temperature shock of taking it out of the hot kiln into the cold air. Wherever these cracks form or where there is no glaze, the clay absorbs the carbon from the smoke trapped in the garbage can and it turns the clay black. I like to use this technique to contrast with my glaze colors to create dramatic affects.