Raku taster – 19th May 2025

After a busy weekend of kiln building, Monday saw a new group of students coming to learn all about Raku and have a go at producing some lovely pots. Our taster experiences start at 9.30 ish with a nice brew. There were only 5 students this time due to a cancellation, and we started dead on time. Adrian & Karen gave a brief overview of safety in the studio and a general talk about pottery, the process, types of clay and firing pots. Adrian then moved onto his talk about the history of Raku and how it initially arrived in the UK thanks to Bernard Leach and how it was revived in the late 1950’s by Paul Soldner.

The students were shown several examples of how we glaze and achieve certain effects on our pots. We looked at the carious processes involved in raku and the student then chose 2 “free” pots from a large selection we have. Most opted to buy a third pot so they could try all three of the main technique. The students then had nearly an hour and a half to decorate and glaze their creations with Karen on hand to help them and give support. The sun was sort of shining, so for lunch break everyone sat outside and enjoyed what they bought along whilst Adrian got the kiln ready for firing.

We had 3 firings after lunch and this week all the students chose to do a horsehair / feather pot and most also opted for naked Raku one (Don’t worry we kept our clothes on !). There were some fabulous results and after cleaning their pots, sealing the inside and polishing those that needed doing, the new appointed RakuManiacs all left very happy.

Comments

AL – Excellent day, small group of nice people. Perfect day learning Raku. Thank you

CJ – Fab day learning something new. Both Adrian & Karen are supportive and fun teachers. Lovely group. Would love to come back 😊x

CR – “GREAT”

LS – Wonderful day. Thanks for showing us all the new techniques

RW – Brilliant day, pots looked great