Making "Raku"
I make each sculpture with a ceramic low fire stoneware clay. I have molded each piece with a silicone rubber mold, so I can reproduce them.
However no two pieces come out the same when raku is involved... First I roll out a thin slab of clay. Then I begin pressing the clay into my open mold(s). After the clay has been pressed into my mold I then trim the extra clay from around the mold. Now the piece is set outdoors to start a slow dry just until leather hard. Then I must remove the sculpture from it's rubber mold. This part is very tricky. Once removed I must re-work or re-detail the sculpture by sculpting in the detail that I want to add to the sculpture. Now the clay piece must dry for up to 2- 3 weeks before bisque firing them. Once the sculptures have dried I must bisque fire them to a cone 06- 08. Now that they have been bisqued fired they are ready for me to start painting on differen't low fire glazes. Like these "unfired glazes" I love this part, much like the patinas I have on my bronze sculptures The glazes on "raku" determine everything about each sculpture. Will they look good? did I choose the right color combinations to compliment each sculpture to be "raku" fired ? Now that the sculptures have been properly glazed with amazing metalic prone glazes. They are ready to be fired in a gas (propane) raku kiln. The kiln is loaded up small, 6 - 8 sculptures at a time. Then the kiln is heated up to about 1800 degrees. The pieces of sculpture are then fired to about a cone 06 or so... for about fourty minutes. Now the heat is on!
Once the sculptures glazes show to be melted enouph you must shut off the kiln then with fire proof gloves,face shield and a pair of metal tongs, remove each sculpture from the hot kiln. Then place in a reduction container full to the top with a shredded combustional material. Paper,saw dust ,straw etc. I use shredded paper for my reductions. The container is now covered once the sculpture has been placed in it and the paper has caught fire. By covering the container you snuff out the fire causing black carbon to engulf the sculpture, and enter all the cracking now taking place on the differen't glazes. Once the sculpture has cooled off some,while still quite hot you must remove it from the reduction container and let it cool even more. Then once the pieces are cooler but still on the hot side you now place them in a container of cool water.
This causes color changes to the glazes, and even more cracking to the glaze surface.
Now that the sculptures have cooled they are still somewhat blackened by the reduction. So the next step is to scrub off the black carbon from the surface of each sculpture with commet and a scratch pad. the final stages to my hard work..
I now must string some copper wire through each mask,wall sculpture so it can be easily hung on a collectors wall. Last but not least I name and sign each sculpture with a metalic gold pen!
"Raku"/ Bronze Sculptor Kirk McGuire
