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Midnight
Sun Raku
in Alaska
Summers, though filled with hungry mosquitoes, are a time when Alaskans try
to cram as much activity into their lives as possible. In the Fairbanks area,
located in the central part of the state, the snow is usually gone by May. June
1st marks the day when we can officially plant flowers. The
"Midnight Sun" is nearing its full effect and the urgency associated
with the need for sleep seems to fade as our daylight lasts longer and longer.
This year the temperature actually began to reach the upper seventies by the
first week in June so the Fairbanks Potters Guild decided to hold their monthly
meeting outside, accompanied by a potluck and raku firing. We frequently try to
add some activity to the meetings to encourage participation and make sure we
have plenty of fun.
To my astonishment, I found that all the materials except high temperature
wire were available locally! Actually, I ran out of high temperature wire and
found that bailing wire works just fine as a temporary solution but it will have
to be replaced much sooner than the high temperature wire. The base for the kiln
was made from firebrick left over from the Exxon Valdez oil spill cleanup
project in Prince William Sound. Members of the guild brought old broken kiln
shelves that they could donate for use in the kiln. Reduction of the ware was
accomplished using leaves, sawdust and strips of newspaper. We had some old
metal garage sale cabinets that we used as reduction containers. Smaller
containers would have been nice but the hinged doors on the cabinets worked
well.
Recipes for raku glazes were found on the web. We mixed up six different
glazes in 1000-gram batches. Our favorite was a cone 08 glaze called Tomato Red.
It had a wonderful blend of copper, blue, bronze and silver that worked well
with other glazes such as white crackle. Most of the glazes were supposed to
mature at cone 04 but we mixed and matched without worrying about temperature
ranges. We just watched for all of the glazes on a pot to progress through the
bubbly stage and smooth out again. When they were smooth and shiny we pulled the
pots from the kiln. Some glazes tended to be runny but it still resulted in some
surprisingly nice pieces.
Members began to show up at about 5pm with food and pots. Some
brought extra pots to share with those who didn’t have any and everyone
brought extra food. We started firing at about 5:30pm and continued throughout
the evening.
Raku Party Animals
An advantage of raku is that after I'm thoroughly covered in smoke the mosquitoes don’t find
me to be nearly as attractive (funny thing though; neither does my wife.)
We never did actually get around to having our official meeting. At about 8pm
the guild treasurer made the announcement that we were having way too much fun,
so the meeting could wait for another time. Most people left the party by 11pm but a few stayed on to
fire those "last few pots." Of course, it was still light and we were
all having so much fun that no one really paid much attention to the time. By
the time the last guest finally left at 1am. we had fired about 70 pots.
As for me, the host of the party, I stayed up to refire a few final pieces.
As I waited, I sat peacefully in the summer twilight listening to the birds
singing and the mosquitoes buzzing. I shut the last kiln down at 3am. just
as the sun
began to rise again for a new day.
The main thing we learned from this foray into the odd world of raku is that
after a piece has come through the risky process of raku firing one must relax
and accept as it is it. It is a lesson on finding beauty in diversity.
I wonder how old moose droppings would work for reduction? I’ll have to let
you know. But first; I must find a smaller container for reduction.
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