Question: What Is A Raku

What is Japanese Raku?

Raku is a Japanese style of pottery first made during the 1580s; the practice is characterised by the removal of a clay object from the kiln at the height of the firing and causing it to cool very rapidly. Originally created for the tea ceremony, Raku ware is most commonly found in the form of tea bowls.

What is the purpose of Raku?

Raku helps to evenly distribute Chi, or life-energy, stimulated during the Reiki healing process. Raku transports and channelizes Chi to the major Chakras on the spinal cord. The Raku symbol has a similar function to Savasana, which preserves the energy activated during a Yoga session.

What is Raku sculpture?

Clay Planet’s Sculpture Raku Clay is a heavily grogged, clay body designed specifically for the extreme demands of sculptural work, and large scale throwing. It makes a great throwing body because it is plastic and does not have extremely large grog.

Where does Raku come from?

Raku ware, Japanese hand-molded lead-glazed earthenware, originally invented in 16th-century Kyōto by the potter Chōjirō, who was commissioned by Zen tea master Sen Rikyū to design wares expressly for the tea ceremony.

How are traditional raku tea bowls made?

Raku chawan tea bowls are molded using the tezukune technique, with the palms of the hand: clay is shaped into a dense, flat circle and built up by compressing between the palms. When dry enough, the rough and imperfect clay is trimmed with an iron or bamboo scraper and covered with an opaque glaze.

How long does a raku firing take?

Raku ceramics are loaded into a cold kiln, and the kiln is heated rapidly. Sometimes the cycles in which the pieces are fired are very short, as little as 15 to 20 minutes in cases, differing vastly to traditional firing cycles of around 10 hours.

Can you eat out of raku pottery?

May I use your Raku ceramics to eat and/or drink? Yes, you may. Unlike traditional Raku ceramics, we use only food-safe glazes without lead or other metals.

What temperature does raku fire at?

Western raku is typically made from a stoneware clay body, bisque fired at 900 °C (1,650 °F) and glost or glaze fired (the final firing) between 800–1,000 °C (1,470–1,830 °F), which falls into the cone 06 firing temperature range.

Is Raku a high fire or low fire process?

Raku, as practiced in the West, is a low-fire method in which we quickly heat the ware, remove the ware from the kiln when the glaze has melted, and perform some type of post-firing process to the piece.

What is white raku clay?

White Raku Clay is versatile clay which can also be fired to stoneware temperature. It’s manufactured with a large content of fine grog, which allows for excellent plasticity and burnishing. Widely used for a multitude of different applications such as coiling, hand building and slab work.

Who is Raku Inoue?

Raku Inoue, an artist based out of Montreal, recently gained a following over his Natura Insects series. The concept was to recreate beetles, dragonflies, and other insects using flowers and leaves. The middle bloom of a sunflower becomes dots on the wings of a butterfly. A pinecone acts as the body of a bumblebee.

What is Terra Sigillata in pottery?

Terra sigillata is a very smooth, lustrous coating of clay which resembles a glaze and is virtually waterproof. The name means “sealed earth” and has been used to refer to the Classical Greek Attic black-figure and red-figure painted pottery.

Do you bisque fire raku?

First you must bisque fire your pots as usual. Make sure you use a clay that is designed for Raku firing. Although a pyrometer is sometimes used to monitor how fast the temperature is rising, Raku artists usually watch the glaze to see when it is ready to be reduced.

Can you throw raku clay?

But it does not feel as smooth during throwing as our Sculpture clays. Since Raku-Throwing has a fine clay base it burnishes reasonablty well for a grogged body. You might find it helpful to make a slip of the material and screen out the grog, then paint this on and burnish.

What is Shino pottery?

Shino ware (志野焼, Shino-yaki) is Japanese pottery, usually stoneware, originally from Mino Province, in present-day Gifu Prefecture, Japan. It emerged in the 16th century, but the use of shino glaze is now widespread, both in Japan and abroad.

What kind of clay do you use for raku?

Most of the time, stoneware is the clay of choice for raku pottery. However, it is much more likely to survive the raku process if it has additional materials to prevent it from cracking. Grog can be added to clay bodies to make them more resilient.

What is Japanese pottery called?

Japanese Pottery, known in Japan as “Tojiki” (陶磁器) or “Yakimono” (やきもの), is one of Japan’s most valued crafts. It combines Art and Tradition, and it has a long history that reflects the values of the Japanese people throughout time.

What is a raku tea bowl?

Raku ware is a type of ceramic highly esteemed in the Japanese tea ceremony. It is a lightweight glazed earthenware molded by hand rather than thrown on a potter’s wheel. This tea bowl is tentatively attributed to the sixteenth-century tile maker who is believed to be the founder of Raku ware, known as Chojirō.

Can you bisque fire in a raku kiln?

Bisque Firing in a Raku Kiln It is possible to bisque fire in a raku kiln. However, if you do, you will need the temperature in the kiln to ramp up much more slowly. If you heat the greenware up too quickly it will explode.

What happens to raku glazes when they are placed in reduction?

Often glazes in a raku reduction firing will be orange, red, copper, and gold. If the container is opened, allowing oxygen back in, this can cause flashes of oxidation-style colors. Additionally, glaze and slip that have been applied to the bisque ware may crack during rapid temperature changes.