This is Raku

The expectant crowd rings the outdoor kiln, armed with heavy tongs and oven mitts. The dark night sky hints at rain, but all eyes remain fixed on the small furnace.

As the anticipated time draws near, Jeremiah Houck, Bemis art teacher, slowly raises the cover of the kiln, letting escape a rush of heat. Inside sits an array of glowing orbs. Each student in turn rushes to retrieve his or her work. They precariously negotiate each fiery red pot across the small courtyard. With a dozen bursts of flame, the students plunge the pots into combustible beds of shredded newspaper, quickly drop the tongs, and cap each small inferno with a tin can to seal in the fire.

This is raku. Houck, who teaches wheel throwing at the Bemis School of Art in Colorado Spring, Colo., said that all pottery classes at Bemis, from beginning to advanced, have the opportunity to try this unique glazing process. The raku process allows the potter to finish the pot with a shiny metallic bronze or a maze of minute lines, achieving the crackle affect.

"It's the hook for beginning students," said Houck of the raku process. "Through it we show them that there are limitless things to do with clay."

Bob Smith, a Denver artist with a clay piece owned by the Fine Arts Center, complemented Houck's teaching, and the Bemis School of Art. "Bemis has a phenomenal clay program," he said, "Jeremiah is very competent."

Specifically, the name raku refers to the process of heating up a piece of clay to nearly 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, and yanking the clay out of the oven while still red hot. Next, the artist places the hot clay in a bed of fuel, such as leaves or paper, and caps the bed with a fireproof container. The fuel ignites and the fire produces carbon monoxide in the small cavity surrounding the pot, within the fireproof container. In order to become carbon dioxide, the carbon monoxide robs the clay and the glaze of all available oxygen.

Maggie Quinn, Colorado Springs resident, has been taking classes at Bemis for five years. She loves the raku process because of the unpredictability and variation. "Raku is an ever-changing method. There's always a new challenge," she said.

To make the piece look bronzed, the artist uses a glaze containing copper dioxide. The copper dioxide loses its oxygen from the burning process, and the result is pure copper suspended in the glaze, which becomes a stunning bronze color.

The crackle affect happens because the glaze layer and the pot both swell with heat from the kiln. When the piece suddenly leaves the kiln and begins to cool, the outside cools fastest and the glaze shrinks and cracks around the still swollen clay. The clay itself, when it loses its oxygen from the burning process, turns black. When the glaze is a lighter color, this results in a dramatic web of black lines in stark contrast to the pale hue of the rest of the pot.

Houck said that the raku process is fairly new in the United States. The process came from Japan and entered the country after World War II. The Bemis School of Art is the only public facility in the city for artists to try this technique.

Although the results are beautiful, the raku process also has its shortfalls compared to traditional firing techniques. Since the process itself is so stressful, the pieces created by raku are not as permanent or stable as traditional high fire pottery. Also, raku pieces are not food safe.

Houck himself creates many pieces using the raku process, in addition to making high fire stoneware. He said that his raku pieces tend to be purely decorative pieces as opposed to the more functional stoneware, but they are very popular among buyers.

The Bemis School of Art benefits the art teachers as well as the students as far as creative incentive, Houck said, because they have to prepare for the classes they teach. "It is an excellent chance for beginning artists in general to get a start. Many Colorado Springs artists get their push from Bemis."

Since many of the teachers create their own personal art, they are able to share their work with the community through teaching. The classes give teachers a chance to share their experience with students and students a chance to learn from practicing artists.

"At Bemis, we're trying to change the community's view of art," said Houck.