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Raku is a Japanese technique, born in the sixteenth century A.D. to create bowls for the tea ceremony that could seem ancient.
This particular technique produces a variety of unique results.
The working process combines all the natural Elements: Earth, Water, Air, Fire.
It starts with the Earth (Clay in this case) to create the object.
In the Air it dries. With the Fire is made the first burning, in the kiln, for 8 hours, to reach the temperature of 1000 Celsius degrees (1832 Farenheight degrees).
Then it is painted with particular hand-made glazes, realized by the ceramist with metal oxides.
And then, again in the Fire, for a second burning, that takes about 2 hours to reach the temperature of 1020 Celsius degrees (1868 Farenheight degrees).
At this temperature, every single piece is extracted from the kiln and put in a box, with combustible material inside (such as newspapers, dry leaves or sawdust).
After the immediate closure of the box, Air and Fire melt together and induce a strong reduction of oxygen.
This step causes the reaction of the metal oxides, that randomly emerge. Otherwise, unpainted parts become black by smoking.
Finally it is immersed in Water to stop the reduction process.
The result, in tones and shades, will be random, such as Nature creates, and for this reason every piece is unique.
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