It is a hot day today in Sedona, AZ .It feels like summer is coming upon us. And heat is what I play with when making ceramics.This Raku jar is in my current show called Rock, Paper, Fire at the Jerome Cooperative. Notice the title, no accident there. I play with fire, and that means I must have some care,and yet some creative abandon. Kind of what we deal with every day, isn't it?
With Raku, I must reach into an extremely hot kiln with tongs ,while wearing gloves and lots of protective gear, and pull out my red hot creation.This piece then goes into a trash can with lots of paper as I watch the flames ignite and quickly close the lid to create a perfect reduction environment . Sounds technical, but out comes this beautiful jar with its lid entitled " Shimmer".
Of course this entire process of ceramics is extremely dependent upon the good will of the kiln gods, however they appear to each of us. I used to make a small figure for each kiln load. Why did I stop doing this I wonder?
I did said my prayer to these spirits this morning when I got up early to start my glaze firing. I could see the red glow of the heat when it finally turned off hours later.I won't even look at the inside of the kiln for 24 hours.Too much of a shock to the ceramics to let in cold air. Fire, heat, shimmer. It is all around us, inside us when we are filled with passion, about our art, our love, our life.
What are your feeling about fire and heat?
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