Today was my last day at the actual ceramics studio. I finished the work I had left, well some of it. The tea bowls I made come in Raku red, or Raku black. Since I had four I decided to paint 2 of them red, and two of them will be black. You dont need to paint the two black ones at this stage in the process, they only get glazed later on.
Also, I made a normal tea mug a while back, and drew waves on it. Today I painted the waves blue so that they will stand out against the white color the clay will turn. The heard thing today was waiting. Every time I painted the bowls (the ones that will be red) I had to wait 30 minutes. So i painted outside, waited thirty, painted inside waited another thirty, and then I had to do it again for a second coat.
I also watched Takao I guess you could say, burn some items. He put these Red Raku items on this sputtering flaming box in the ground and just watched the fire surround them. He then dipped them in water and laid them to the side.
Since I didnt have much to do, I also watched Moto. He was making identical bowls. Instead of making them all individually, and by that I mean taking a small piece of clay, make a bowl, then use another little piece of clay. Moto used a huge piece of clay. He then proceeded to make one bowl on the top of the huge centered piece and then would take the top part off. So he just did that until he had no more clay on his wheel. Interesting process.
The thing that bothered me today is that when I decided to start taking pictures, my camera didnt turn on! Turns out my stepmom took out the battery to load it and no one put it back in. So I took some shots with the cell phone I had. Sorry for the bad quality and for the fact that I only have three shots. :-/
Tomorrow will be day 9 with my ceramics family. We will be going to Yamashima (I think thats the name) where they have another kiln which they use for the Black Raku. This is a crazy process. It involves an open kiln at 1200 degrees celsius. Moo warned me to wear long pants, long sleeved shirt, and closed shoes, preferably cotton, since the kiln tends to be very hot and often sputters. Can't wait to take many pictures! Its actual so hot that the one using the kiln has to wear a welders mask (is that what its called?)
Tonight, Takao, Moto, the Ceramics representative (the guy who introduced me to the family) and Kenji (My dads friend who set up everything) are coming with us to dinner. We are taking them to a Belgian restaurant/bar close to our apartment to thank them for everything they have done to help me with my project! I will post back either later or tomorrow with more pictures.
