This is the complete hands-on Raku workshop experience! On this two day course for beginners and more experienced potters you’ll make your own pieces, experiment with glazed and unglazed surfaces and then take your work through the whole Raku outdoor firing process. Expect flames, smoke and very dramatic results!
Day One
Day one is all about making – both hand-building and some throwing. Bill will do demonstrations and share tips and ideas, but you’ll be free to make your own pieces. Pinch pots, slab built pots and animal sculptures are all in the mix. If you’re already an experienced thrower you can sit at the wheel. If you’re new to throwing and would like to have a go then Bill will work with you one-to-one and you can throw two or three pots with him. (Although throwing is not the main focus on this course).
Day Two
On the second day, one week later, your biscuit fired pieces will be ready to decorate. You’ll experiment with Raku glazes, play with contrast using resist techniques, and can even have a go at “naked Raku” (applying clay slip under the glaze). You’ll then head outside and take your work through the complete firing process – all under Bill’s close expert supervision. (If you’d like to learn more about Raku firings you can read more below.)
By the end of the course you’ll have made, decorated, fired and cleaned 8-10 pieces which you can take home with you straight away.
Day one runs from 10am – 5pm
Day two runs from 10am – 6.30pm
A communal home-cooked lunch and other refreshments are included as part of each day.
The course fee also includes all materials and firing costs.
Two day Raku making and firing course
Course fee: £340
What is Raku?
Raku is an ancient firing method that originated in Japan. On our Raku courses, we fire pots and small sculptural pieces in an outside gas kiln, then remove them at 1000 degrees. Immediately, we plunge the red-hot pieces into a barrel of sawdust; it ignites, but we quickly smother it, starving the fire of oxygen.
It’s in this burning sawdust that the alchemy happens. The sudden change in temperature causes the molten glaze to craze, and carbon causes unglazed areas to blacken. In addition, the reduced atmosphere can create amazing metallic surfaces where we’ve used a copper-based glaze.
On our course, you can also try the “naked Raku” method, applying clay slip under the glaze, which results in an unglazed matt smoked crackle surface.
Finally, we place the still hot, blackened pots into cold water to rapidly cool them and stop any further reactions. We then fish them out for cleaning, and it’s only at this stage that the final results reveal themselves. It’s unpredictable, but always dramatic!
You can see some great examples of Raku making and firing course results below, and in our Student Raku gallery.
Explore our other courses
New to throwing or just getting started try our One Day Throwing Course
Already done some throwing and would like to improve then our Two Day Throwing Course is a great next step.
If you’d like to take your throwing to the next level, try our Three Day Throwing Masterclass
“I had only expected to make a few pieces. I was thrilled with what I achieved over the 2 day course and was very pleased to be shown such a variety of skills to enable me to make such differing pieces. The firing day was great fun and created a lovely feeling of community as we all gathered round to be part of the process.”
“Although I have done raku before, I had never tried the ‘naked raku’ technique and I’m thrilled with all my results. It’s such a fun process and you never know what you’ll get, every piece is so unique.”
Get in touch
Clayability
The Pottery at Elm Farm
Duck Lane
Langford
Bristol, North Somerset
BS40 5EY
Telephone : 07532 682 466
Email : hello@clayability.co.uk