4-24-09

I went to my mentor house to do a special firing to my Raku coil pot. What I had to do is put Raju piece in the kile, and let the kile get up to about 1,822 degrees, then as soon as he opens the door I had to grab the pieces and put them in a tin can which has shavings, shredded up paper, and a paper plate. When I put the pieces in the kile I had to let the paper get fire up then put the top on the tin. I left the pieces in the tins for about 10 minutes and then took all of them out. After I took them out I hosed them down with water and then they are finished.

4-21-09

This day I glazed my coil pot in raku glaze. What I did is put my whole entire piece in the Raku glaze, then I wiped the bottom of with a wet sponge. After that I let it dry.

2-10-09

I had to let my coil pot dry for a couple of days. Now that my coil pot is dried and been in the kile, I can now glaze it. I decide to glaze it into two different colors, purple and blue. What I did is put the whole piece in purple and let it dry for a couple of minutes and then diped only half of the piece in blue. After the glaze has dried, it goes back into the kile for the final time.

4-6-09

When I started making my raku coil pot, I had to make my coils with the coil machine. Then I made my base, after making my base I took one coil piece and wrapped it around on top of the base and I just kept wrapping the coil around. When I got done with that I mad swirls to go all around on top. I let my coil pot dry for a day or two, then Mr. Saunders put it in the kile for 12 hours and cool for 24 hours.

4-2-09

I started working on a Raku piece, which has more sand and is softer than other clay. Working with Raku things are little bit different because the clay is so soft but not soft enough to not work with. The main thing that is different about working with Raku is when you fire the Raku piece, the piece comes out with all kinds of different colors. The Raku piece is fired at a higher temperature (1800 degrees) and the put into a trash can with paper. The different colors comes from the oxidation in the paper.

3-12-09

I glazed my bird house in royal blue. When I put my bird house in the glaze, I have to tilt it to let all the extra glaze pour out. Now that I have done that I take a wet sponge and wipe the glaze off the bottom. The reason I have to wipe the bottom of is because the glaze will melt and cause the bird house to stick in the kile. To prevent that you wipe the bottom off. After I finish glazing I set it aside to dry.

2-12-09

After I made my bird house, I started on a plater. I started my plater with a round piece of clay, by rolling it out with the turn table and putting a design on the clay. After I roll it out and put a design on the clay, I dry the clay so it can hold its shape. When I dry the clay, I make sure that its not sticky because if its sticky then the clay won't be hard enough to hold shape. Now that the clay is hard enough to make a shape. I use four fingers on my right hand and push up and the clay and use my index and my middle finger to push down. After I go around the whole piece, it looks like waves all around it. Now that I am finish, I just put it on the shelf to let dry so the clay can go into the kettle.