The Collections

Welcome to my world of Raku Ceramics.  Born of the fire of the fast firing Raku Kiln, Raku pieces, by virtue of the dynamic nature of the process, allows for incredible creativity and variation.  

Each of these images represents a major type of Raku process I produce in my studio. Each process comes in a variety of forms, including tall Emperor and Empress vessels created by joining 2 or more pieces, other vessels, with or without ornamental lids, bowls & platters and some that are simply unique in some way.

Scroll below to learn more about each collection. In each collection, click an image to enlarge it. Or…

Visit my Shop or click a link below to begin your exploration of one of the Raku styles I produce in my studio.:

• Jewels of Atlantis

• Tiger Saggar

• Color & Crackle Raku

• Luster Raku

• Copper Matte

• Opalescence

 The Jewels of Atlantis

Ed Note: Image block gallery; manually add pieces. clicks can open light-box for individual pot or go to Shop displaying ALL examples of type but, unlike Image Gallery, without opening the Sidebar to the category.

As I developed these pieces, I imagined that these pieces might be relics of the fabled lost Kingdom of Atlantis. Over centuries, the Kingdom’s gold adhered to the surface of the pieces when they wefell into the ocean as the mythical city was destroyed. Thus were born the “Jewels of Atlantis.”

The beauty comes from the myriad of colors and gold on the surface of each raku piece. My fantasy is that the adhered gold glistening on the cratered surface is like melted gold that  adhered to the surface, like growth on the surface of coral beneath the sea.

It's not necessary that you play along with my Atlantis fantasy. Hopefully though, you find them as beautiful and pleasing to the eye as I do.

Many of the pieces have decorative lids indicative of the particular styling of the artists of Atlantis. You are welcome to buy these pieces with our without the ornamental lid and display it as you please. You’ll discover that option in the Shop.

 Tiger Saggar Raku

Ed Note: Summary block gallery with Quick Look; clicks go to individual pot. Uses Tags to choose which pieces appear.

Saggar firing denotes the use of  a chamber to place the piece of ware into for the firing process. Traditional Saggar firing uses combustible materials inside the saggar chamber to leave an imprint on the final fired piece as a result of the firing.

My Saggar process is different from the traditional Saggar process. The ware is first bisqued, and then affected with various metallic oxides, pieces of copper and other metals after first dipping the piece in an acid wash. This is a very different form of Raku as the piece is never glazed at all. The resulting finish on the pieces is the result of the interaction of the acid,  the various metal oxides and metals placed on the ware finally fired in a Raku kiln with the piece in an aluminum foil saggar cocoon. 

My Tiger Saggar pieces in particular show the dynamic interaction of the acid, the oxides and the COPPER in one form or another fired in the metallic cocoon.  Finally the piece is pulled from the kiln and is pulled from the ashes and debris from the process to unveil what is an amazing result.

Color & Crackle Raku

Ed Note: Image block Slideshow gallery clicks go to Shop without opening sidebar. (gallery below uses Jewel pieces to illustrate Color & Crackle temporarily)

In this section of Raku pieces you will find pieces in which the intent was primarily to either produce beautiful colored pieces or pieces that distinctly exhibit Raku crackle response on the surface.

The reason that I have grouped Color and Crackle together is that to achieve pieces in which Color is the objective, the piece is often allowed to cool down a bit prior to putting the piece into the reduction chamber. So even if the desire is Color, by virtue of the piece cooling somewhat, various glazes will as well produce a crackle effect.

If the intent is specifically to produce the Crackle effect, the glazed piece after firing to a melting temperature is taken from the kiln hot and allowed to cool for a short period prior to being placed in the reduction chamber. Because the glaze cools quicker than the clay body it tends to crack over the body of the piece. 

If I listen closely, and I do exactly that,  I even hear the glaze crack as it cools. Then the piece is placed into the reduction chamber and smoked. The result is the beautiful and interesting crackle effect from the smoke infused into the cracks in the glaze.  

Luster Raku

Ed Note: Summary block gallery withOUT Quick Look; clicks go to individual pot in Shop. Uses Tags to choose which pieces appear.

Luster  and Colored Luster

What pieces do I classify as Luster and Colored Luster? The answer is anything from a piece that is a bright and lustrous copper penny color to pieces that are colorful but have very notable portions of the piece that have metallic lusters on them. 

Unlike the colored crackle pieces, the heat the piece was finished at was hot enough that the crackle effect typically doesn’t occur. It certainly was not a goal for these pieces

Luster and Colored Luster  pieces often involve  the very same glazes. The deciding factor for the specific resulting finish on the piece is the temperature and amount of reduction.

There is a finesse to achieving these finishes that comes from many tests and exploration.

CopperMatte Raku

Ed Note: Image block Slideshow gallery clicks go to Shop without opening sidebar. (gallery below uses COPPER pieces, NOT SURE IF YOU CONSIDER THEM MATTE or Luster. Consider them just examples)

Copper Matt Finishes

All glazes have certain basic components, glass in one form or another and fluxing components that make the glass melt. The specific glass and fluxing components will leave a different effect on the surface of the piece. 

There are many copper matte variations in Raku. I primarily use bone ash as a component to yield a sand like matted texture on the piece. Copper, Cobalt and Manganese provide the coloration which can be anything from a brilliant sandy copper finish to multi-colored.

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Opalescence Raku

Ed Note: Summary block gallery withOUT Quick Look; clicks go to individual pot in Shop. Uses Tags to choose which pieces appear.

Opalescence

This is a colored luster technique that involves a very specific glaze that in particular yields a wide range of beautiful colorations. If anyone is familiar with one of my favorite gems, the Australian Black Opal, you’re familiar with the amazing colors that are produced within these beautiful gems.

The glaze used in the process is simply amazing and yields a wide variation of color. The effect is a beautiful metallic opalescent finish.  I often utilize my gold glaze on these pieces for accents. 

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 Assorted Raku Gallery

Click a pot to see more like it or go directly to the Shop to see all our collections of Raku