Yesterday the folks at my community college fired up the raku kiln. I’m in the second quarter of ceramics, and was lucky enough to have a piece fired yesterday. What you see above is right after the kiln is opened up and the pots are still glowing red with heat. They’re moved quickly from the kiln into garbage cans filled with newspaper (which promptly sets alight), and then the can is covered for awhile. I could go into why all this happens, but that’s another post (and I’m still a newbie.)

What comes out is an awesome piece of ceramic, which makes even a lousy looking pot look awesome. I will post a couple raku pieces I’ve done in the near future. It’s pretty awesome stuff.