Raku Results : Glazed Raku Vessels and Pendants

It may have been the horsehair raku which first peaked my interest in raku, but I very soon became intrigued by the glittery and often iridescent colors and crackled look of glazed raku pieces.  These are the 3 pots which I made in the raku course :

...and these are the glazed pendants :

I am pleased by the results.  

Here are the pots, one by one:

4) I was really pleased by the shape of this one.  It was almost exactly the shape I had set out to throw.  I originally intended to make a cutout pattern on the flat top, but the course was already so busy, and I was afraid there would be more chance of breakage, so I decided to leave it as is.  The top and bottom are finished with terra sig and polished.  The sides are glazed with a glaze that was labelled Piepenburg Red-Bronze, but the sample we were provided was this same brilliant green, with lots of color variations and the crackle effect.  I am not disappointed.  It doesn't show up too well in the photos, but parts of the glaze are a coppery metal color (see top left and middle right photos).

5) This one is a candleholder.  It is finished in a glaze called Apple Crackle.  I'm pretty happy with the result.  The bottom is finished with terra sig and polished, but the rim and inside are the unpolished clay, so has a nice rough texture.  Here it is with a tealight inside, sitting on the bathroom counter.  It doesn't cast too many dragonflies on the counter, but sends dragonflies flying on the walls nearby.  Nice.

6) This one was just a little piece I hand formed with some extra clay I didn't want to throw away, but I thought it could make a little spacer in my garden totem.  It is glazed with Piepenburg Red-Bronze.  The unglazed parts are just the natural clay, no terra sig.  I didn't try to stamp or initial it.  I think I'll be able to fit it into my totem somewhere.

7) I was inspired to try some jewelry pieces, for my friend Shelley.  Ultimately, I need to make some smaller pieces which she can incorporate into her handcrafted beaded bracelets. These heart pendants turned out nicely, for my first experiment with jewelry.  I scratched my initial into the back side of each, since the stamp was out of the question (note to self : order a small stamp also).

7A) This one was finished with white terra sig, then used in horsehair raku, with a few strands of horsehair and a sprinkling of berry sugar.  The ferric chloride was sprayed on front and back after it had cooled quite a bit, so thus the lighter yellow color.

7B) The black pattern was created with masking tape, and the glazes are Red, Apple Crackle, and a White/Clear Crackle glaze.  All these pieces were fired in a wire basket, so they could be removed and placed into the combustibles.  So the wire pattern has shown through on the back.  It was unexpected, but I have to say I like it.

7C) Again, the black pattern was formed by masking tape, and then glazed in Red.

8) These colorful pendants were made from some leftover clay, but I like them so much, I think if I took another raku course, I think I would make more pendants.  Again, they show a funky pattern on back from the pieces sitting in the wire basket, and my small initial "L" on the back.

8A) This one is glazed in White Crackle, Red, Piepenburg Red-Bronze, and White.

8B) This one is glazed in White, Piepenburg Red-Bronze, Red, and Beetlejuice.

8C) This one is glazed in Piepenburg Red-Bronze, Red, White and Piepenburg Red-Bronze again.

Stay tuned for more posts, as I make my way through the many pieces from our raku course.