|
My pottery is wheel-thrown and hand-built from slabs of
clay. I make a few pieces of horsehair pottery, but most of my work is fired by the raku method
developed in Japan in the 16th century. My goal as a raku
artist is to achieve competence in the technical aspects of
working the clay, developing the glazes and managing the
reduction factors, thus allowing the natural physical and
chemical dynamics of the raku process to become "the
artist" in my work.
Raku is the only ceramic which is removed from the kiln when
it is red hot. I hold the temperature at 2000 degrees
Fahrenheit for about five minutes, then remove the pottery to a
metal trash can into which I have placed varying amounts of
hardwood sawdust and newspaper. The fire that results will
exhaust the oxygen in the can and then, in order to continue
smoldering, will draw oxygen out of the chemicals in my
glazes. As oxygen is withdrawn from the copper carbonate,
silver nitrate, etc., the copper and silver are released to
attach to the surface and give the color and metallic effects
unique to raku fired pieces.
I love to see a collage of blended colors on the surface of my pots, so I
use three primary glazes. One of these dramatically
changes the color of the other two, so with careful placement, I
can get five colors from three glazes. Then I add stained
glass to melt during firing and blend in with with the silica in
the glazes.
My wife, Sue Wood, is also a ceramicist. She sculpts
the Dali Girls and Winged Spirits, and I do all
the glazing and firing. Otherwise, I work alone in my studio with
the companionship of thirteen dogs, six cats and the
ever-present crew of CNN. From wedging the clay to placing the
finished piece on the display, no
one touches it but the two of us
From our hands to yours, and we hope you
will enjoy living with it!
Learn more about Dick McGee |
