12 little tea bowls

Guest column by Moore Gillum.

I recently read that you should make every stroke count (in painting); you should taste every bite (in dining); and that you should envision the concept before you start (in creating almost anything). [Insert semi-amusing possibly derogatory commentary here.]

The corollary is that it is more important to learn something new than to crank out a bunch of pieces.

In raku I have never made a single thing that was not an experiment but maybe it is time to grow up and get systematic about this experimenting.

First I cranked out a bunch of pieces – 12 little tea bowls – not Honorable Chawans, just humble tea bowls.

Next I will try everything I can think of in raku to make the inside of tea bowl white and the outside black.

Here’s the concept in writing.

1. Outside of bowl will be painted in oxide soup and inside in clear raku glaze.
2. Inside will be a pastel underglaze with clear overcoat. (Pale pink, which I know might not meet the requirements for white exactly. But I’m ok with that.)
3. Outside in oxide soup and inside in white crackle.
4. Heavily reduced pot with another pot placed on the inside to keep smoke to a minimum. This will be something like what happens with anagama kilns, when pots are stacked, I hope.
5. Bowl placed upside down on a non-melting surface that will reduce smoke reaching inside of bowl.
6. Bowl filled with something on the inside, like granite chicken grit? Not sure about this and might be kind of dangerous.
7. Fired clay grating or shavings on the inside.
8. Broken bisqued pot pieces on the inside.
9. Keep one pot bique fired to stay white and constuct a separate black holder, using oxide soup or underglaze, or maybe just heavily reduced.
10. Saggar fire. Not sure about details on this or how to make inside white. Maybe construct some kind of lid to restrict fumes?
11. Bowl will be heavily reduced, with first effort at naked raku slip on inside.
12. Obvara brew on outside, no brew on inside. This will take more than one effort to get it to work, I’m pretty sure. Sometimes my obvara is black and white and sometimes shades of beige and brown. Sweet mystery. Next experiment.

Our friend and colleague, Daniel at NM Clay, will help refine ideas and suggest ways to keep from getting hurt.

What are other ways to do this? Maybe you could send an idea or a dozen, please, please.

In raku, as in life, you do things to discover how you should have done things. Who was that guy with the fuzzy hair who talked about “happy little mistakes”? Was he a raku potter?