Richard Ballantyne - Raku - at Thornton College
2nd September 2008
 Richard Ballantyne, a Steeple Claydon ceramicist gave a fantastically entertaining talk and demonstration of Raku at Thornton College. The Sisters at the College allowed us to use their hall and outside facilities as part of combining with the community, for which we were very grateful.
Richard started by giving us a brief history of himself and how he got interested in ceramics, followed by a very witty demonstration of how to make sheep and a very grumpy chicken (see photos in the History section). He brought along a number of small pots which for a £1 a go the audience were invited to decorate using his specially formulated glazes. These were then whisked off to the kiln for firing outside.
Now where the Raku bit comes in is that you take each piece out of the kiln and immerse it into straw thus reducing the amount of oxygen in the cooling process. This does strange things to the glazes and no two pots will ever be the same! Some quite interesting results were produced.
We went on later than intended and hope that we did not outstay our welcome with the Sisters. A huge round of applause to Richard for what was a thoroughly entertaining evening. |