Dawn G. Holder on tue 1 mar 05
A few spaces remain in this fabulous, hands-on workshop which will be held
at the Hambidge Center, nestled in the mountains of northeast Georgia! To
register, call (706)746-5718 or email: center@hambidge.org.
Take a look at our website for full workshop listings for spring and summer
or to download a registration form: www.hambidge.org.
Wally Asselberghs “Exploring Naked Raku”
April 23 – 24, 10 am to 5 pm
Min 9, Max 15
$160, Lunch included
"Naked raku" is a raku-based ceramic technique which uses sacrificial slip
and glaze layers as catalysts to create patterns and surface textures left
behind by smoke and fire. Students in this workshop will experiment with
various aspects of the naked raku process. Layers of slip and glaze will be
applied to bisqued work which will be fired in a raku kiln. When ready, the
pieces are removed with tongs, and placed in a smoke-bin, and allowed to
cool. When the hot clay object is "reduced" in the smoke-bin, the smoke and
tar will penetrate into the "cracks" of the glaze or slip into the clay, and
leave various shades of white, black and grey, or irregular crack-like
patterns on the surface. The layer of slip and glaze will then peel off, or
be removed with water, showing the patterns created on the "bare" or "nude"
clay. Various color possibilities can be explored by applying (before
burnishing and bisquing) a slip layer containing stains or oxides, or by
using colored clay. After thoroughly cleaning and drying, a tiny layer of
beeswax is polished into the finished clay object. This gives a matte shiny
finish, embellishing the surface of the "naked clay".
Wally Asselberghs received his ceramic training during 12 years of night
classes at Art Academy in Antwerp, Belgium, completed by various private
workshops in his native Belgium, France and Holland. He has been working in
clay for more than 25 years, with an original emphasis on stoneware ash
glazes and Western Raku. After his first initiation in "Naked Raku" in
1995, he decided to specialize in this technique, and started organizing and
teaching workshops in Belgium in 1998. In April 2003, he was invited by
Linda and Charles Riggs to teach 2 weekends of "Combo" workshops in their
Studio in North Carolina. Participants were trained in the Riggs
"slip-resist" technique, and Wally's "slip and glaze" method. An article
about these sessions appeared in the July 2003 Edition of Clay Times. A
photograph of his work was selected for the recent Lark Book Alternative
Kilns and Firing Techniques, which also published his slip-formula in the
recipe-section. His original focus was on wheel thrown vases and bowls;
more recent work is made by combining coiling techniques and assembling
plates, pre-formed in concave plaster molds. In his organic objects, he
tries to find a visual language in which his favorite forms - animal, human
body, rocks, marks left by forces of wind and water - are reduced to their
simplest essence and purity. Wally is also the creator and moderator of the
"International Naked Raku Forum" on the Internet, started on Yahoo 3 years
ago, now joined by 430 members from 25 countries, freely sharing and
exchanging recipes, photographs, experiences and knowledge about this
technique.
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