Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Painted Butterfly Raku Jar




Greetings, my fine feathered friend!
About two weeks ago, I was invited by a friend to go to a raku party.  "Raku" is a type of low-firing pottery process inspired by the traditional Japanese raku firing.  In the western-style raku that was demonstrated at the party, the pottery was removed from the kiln while still red hot (which is an amazing thing to witness!) and then covered by buckets filled with newspaper.  When the newspaper ignites, it produces what is called an "intense reduction atmosphere" that effects the colors in the glazes and clay, and usually produces crackling.  It is an awesome process to watch! :)
I had a wonderful time at this raku party and got to take one of the jars home.  I have a habit of embellishing things, and so I started painting the jar.  This was the first time I'd ever painted on a non-flat surface, so it was definately a learning experience.  What you see in the pictures above are the results of my experimentation.  So technically, I can say my art is now in 3D! ;)
Happy Flying!

1 comment:

  1. the painting motif goes really well with the shape of the jar :)

    ReplyDelete

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