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Wali Hawes 1952 - 2014 |
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Wali Hawes Potter's Diary |
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Raku Weekend. Vol 12On the weekend of the 28th-29th April the 12th edition of the continuing Clay Monograph Series was held at mu studio in the hills of the Odaka Highlands. Expectation was high as Morita Koichiro, Professor of Sculpture from Kyoto University of The Arts was participating with Shodo Teacher from Nara, potter from Tokoname, three Italian Ladies studying Noh in Kyoto, and students from Nagoya Art University on an Exchange Programme. The day started out with some really gorgeous weather. I decided that the wood-fired raku kiln would be used mainly for alkaline frit based glazes-Copper Matt, White Crackle, Black Lustre and Transparent. In some cases decoration was done with Cobalt Sulphate which produced a beautiful blue. I don`t wonder at all this business of me-a foreign potter doing Raku in Japan and in many ways teaching Japanese about Raku. Of course it isn`t the tradition of Chojiro and yes more in the tradition of Solder and his contempories-which is why Raku in Japan is something practiced by a handful of potters. Whilst we all may know that the "kanji" for Raku means "enjoyment" and "pleasure" what is constantly overlooked is it also means "easy". Whilst the tendency of Contemporary Raku Pracitce is to tighten up and specialize-to such an extent that the work coming out actually doesn`t look like Raku-so clean and tidy and controlled are the results. I for myself prefer the festive and collaborative almost social aspect of Raku firing. Much more fun when done with others. We had some problem with the wood firing because all of a sudden the heavens opened and deluged us. A makeshift shelter meant that we could continue and indeed we did till around five in the evening. A leisurely dip in the local onsen had us ready for a superb dinner and after dinner concversation with certain victuals. The next day saw the building and firing of the oil and gas kilns. Similar in design they are both of a cube like structure and updraught. In the oil fired kiln we stuck to Naked Raku and the application of Terra Sigillata to Raku. Very interesting results. The idea of this has to go th Fujita-kun. Opened up a whole new possiblity. The Naked Raku gave us a mixed bag partly due to the variety of ways that people applied the technique. In the afternoon after a great paella and some superb Marquez de Riscal we concentrated on Copper Matt. Fairly straightforward and as usual we did the reduction/oxidation to get some spectacular and typical Copper Matt. Raku continues to be a fascinating technique and what is more the ability is has to reach out to anybody, its immediacy and vibrancy. Always changing and ever constant. 20/05/2002
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