Raku always gets everyone excited - me included, it's a combination of the effects that can be achieved, plus the instant gratification thing.
There are I believe three fundamental types of raku work: burnished terra sigilata (what they did on throw down), crackle glazes, and the rainbow colour effect of metal oxides.
Those that use the crackle glaze technique and do it well are real masters of their art, seemingly controlling the lines that run across their pots so beautifully. Because the cracks in the glaze reveal the bare clay underneath, when the pots are plunged into a combustible material (ie sawdust) these lines as well as any unglazed parts of the pot blacken as the sawdust burns. I did some of this type of raku firing the I was at Camberwell and it really is fun.
The potters who use metallic oxides can also get some wonderful effects once they have learned their trade, with deep lustrous rainbow colours dancing across their pots like the northern lights.
The third type of raku which they did on throw down involves burnishing the pot having applied a very fine type of slip or liquid clay called terra sigillata. You then heat the pot to circa 900 degrees and then apply combustible materials to create smokey burnt patterns on the surface - ie feathers. I have never heard it called "naked raku" before and I think that is Channel 4 just sexing the whole thing up.
The problem was that because the brief had them all doing the same thing, there was little room for originality. The potter of the week could almost have been any one of them, though personally I would have quite liked to see Alon win it on this occasion as at least his pots looked different from everyone elses, and he did use a different technique to create his surface decoration. Having said that, Hanna's large bottle was magnificent. The decision to keep everyone in the pottery was a good one as no-one deserved to get thrown out based on their work.
So after the programme I got really excited about the idea of getting a raku kiln, it all looked such fun! Then I remembered what I don't like about raku.
It is low fired so not functional, and as a result is often rather clunky. I think that if something looks like a vase then in an ideal world it should function as one, which raku does not.
Also we don't have forever on this planet, and there just isn't time to do everything in pottery that appeals. So I will stick to ploughing my current furrow and not start going off at a tangent. I have more than enough to keep me busy and entertained with my current ideas and experimentation.
Focus is the key.
