Event Details
« Return to 2019 Tennessee Craft Week
Raku Kiln Firing
Mountain Arts Community Center on Signal Mountain hosts Scenic City Clay Arts for a raku kiln firing.October 5th, 2019
09:00 AM to 11:00 PM
Times may vary. We will post specific firing times closer to the date. October 12 is backup date in case of weather or other delays. Check website for more information and updates.
Mountain Arts Community Center
809 Kentucky Ave
Signal Mountain, TN 37377
In celebration of Tennessee Craft Week, SCCA is partnering with Mountain Arts Community Center (MACC) on Signal Mountain to offer a raku kiln firing. Two raku kilns will be setup outdoors on MACC property. Open to the public, but operated by professional potters and instructors from SCCA, visitors will get to experience what a raku firing looks like up close!
“Raku is a really old process from Japan,” according to Loren Howard who is a long-time studio member, instructor, and renowned professional potter. Raku firing heats a piece very quickly, then pulls it out while it is still orange-hot (a little below 1900 degrees Fahrenheit). The piece is then stuck into a bucket filled with materials that will slowly burn around it. As it continues to burn, smoke penetrates the clay, so any cracks in the glaze get a tiny black line. “It is a super unpredictable process. You never know what you are going to get, and it has a high risk of breaking the piece.” Loren, along with other SCCA potters, will be constructing and overseeing the firing process in the raku kiln.
If you would like to bring work to be fired in the raku kiln, space is available. Work must be created on your own using raku clay and must be pre-approved by SCCA staff. There is a fee per square foot of space. Please contact SCCA studio for more information: email Studio@sceniccityclayarts.org or call 423-883-1758.
https://www.sceniccityclayarts.org/events
