Quincey Reese, Managing Editor
Penn-Trafford High School seeks to expose students to new experiences throughout their time at P-T. For the ceramics classes, one of these opportunities came about through a Raku firing which was held all day on May 11.
Ceramics teachers Patrick Griffith and Brenda Christeleit have invited Dan Kuhn, professional potter and owner of Ton Pottery, to perform this procedure, making this his second year doing the Raku firing at P-T. He has, however, been practicing the art of Raku for 25 years total since first studying it at California University of Pennsylvania.
Kuhn was first drawn to PTHS when Christeleit heard about his experiences doing Raku for other high schools and reached out to him. He said he values his time working with the students here.
“There has always been an enthusiastic group of students and I always enjoy coming back,” Kuhn added. “I look forward to returning and firing with the crew.”
In order to be prepared for the Raku process, students in all three Ceramics classes first created their pieces. For Ceramics One students, the objective was to make simple candle holders while the Ceramics Two and Three students were to build on their previously learned skills to produce identity masks or lidded, patterned boxes.
To accomplish this, students used a special kind of clay that contained more sand and organic material than the clay they normally use. Christeleit explained that these properties will better allow the clay to hold up to the harsher conditions in a Raku fire. The pieces were first fired in a bisque fire at around 1960 degrees Fahrenheit, which is what usually occurs with their projects throughout the school year. From here, students glazed their pieces before being eligible to move on to the Raku fire.
In this procedure, all pieces were heated in an outdoor kiln at around 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. After this point is reached, they were moved into what is referred to as a reduction chamber, which in this case was a garbage can filled with slips of paper. Once the pieces were in here, the lid was be placed on top of the garbage can to cut off access to oxygen.
Christeleit explained that doing this pulls the oxygen out of the pieces through an oxidizing reaction. This breaks through the glaze coat and forms intricate, crackled designs on each piece.
Griffith said that the unique aspects that this firing technique brings out are what distinguishes Raku and attracts people to it.
“A lot of artists like this process because of the randomization of it. You don’t really know what you’re going to get when it comes out of that reduction chamber, so it’s really random, which is nice,” Griffith said.
Griffith added that this opportunity provides students with a chance to become fully involved in the creation process, as well as learn from the work and knowledge of a professional artist.
“It’s a different experience. Students have been in the studio working with clay and we’ve been doing the firing, and now they’ll get a chance to be a part of the whole process,” he said. “They get to try something different in a whole new style.”