Ceramics
schartz@arn.net
My primary material is clay. My wife Gretchen and I are a team in this collaborative process. Many pieces are formed on a wheel, but then will contain an extruded or hand built element. After bisque-firing, a design is created on the surface of the pieces using 1/8" graphic art tape. Glazing is then done by hand and they are all raku-fired.
Raku ware is pulled from the kiln at a high temperature and placed in a fireproof container along with a number of different combustibles. The high temperature of the piece being pulled ignites the combustible and at the height of the flaming the fire is smothered. The fire then pulls the oxygen out of the glaze, and this is what gives raku its distinctive colors and patterns.
