as any loyal student would, i vote for my teacher hal riegger to have introduced
post reduction raku firing, in mill valley, ca. I was a student of hal and betty
feeves in the 60s and 70s.
nevertheless, i continue to teach a traditional form of raku, red and black
glaze, at esalen institute, big sur, california. For red we use a clear glaze over
bisque trapping the red-orange bisque colour, and for black, we crush a black slate
rock found along the pacific ocean at esalen, just like in japan where the black
came from black rocks in a river.
Since raku means "pleasure" and there are 9 types of pleasure, my students from
japan only know or raku pottery as "raku yaki"
noel mapstead....www.mapstead.com/noel or www.esalen.org
SBRANFPOTS@AOL.COM wrote:
> I've been away from CLAYART for a few weeks and came back to a discussion
> about the differences between raku here and raku there. Here is my two cents:
>
> Both Vince and Mel and right on when they say that raku is not static.
> Indeed, even in Japan, raku ware as produced by the raku family has taken on
> a very contemporary aesthetic. Raku was introduced to the west by Leach
> through his account of attending a raku party. However it was introduced to
> America by Warren Gilbertson and subsequently experimented with on the west
> coast by a few potters most noteably Hal Riegger and Paul Soldner. Hal was
> doing "western style raku" as early as 1947 or so, before Soldner. Just who
> was the first to come up with the idea of post firing reduction is a matter
> of debate but it appears that it was Riegger. How important is it that we
> know who was the first? Probably not much as it is likely that both potters
> were working with the techniques independenly of each other and "discovered"
> post firing reduction equally independently.
>
> Traditional raku was of two types. Red raku was low fired with a thick lead
> based glaze. Black raku was high fired with a feldspathic glaze. Both wares
> were fired quickly in a small charcoal kiln, removed with tongs and cooled.
> There was, and is no post firing treatment.
>
> The important thing for us to remember is that raku has it's origins in the
> Japanese culture, the tea ceremony, and the practice of Zen. It's basic
> technical method has been adopted by contemporary potters and adapted to
> their aesthetic sensibilities. New twists, variations, and ideas have
> expanded upon this traditional technique and have given it new relevance to
> modern potters. Calling it raku does not minimize its origins or relevance to
> traditional Japanese practice or its wares and no one needs to feel guilty
> about calling what we do raku.
>
> Carry on!
>
> Steven Branfman
>
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