Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Pyromaniac

Continuing the Cottonwood Art Festival theme... I watched self-proclaimed pyromaniac Bruce Odell finish one of this Raku vases. He brought a couple of kilns with him... that is dedication my friends.

Look at that kiln glow!

DSC_3263

Now he's getting started by removing the vase from the kiln.

DSC_3267

Here he is examining the vase just before the coloring process begins. That is sunscreen he is wearing. Even a pyro is afraid of the sun.

DSC_3271

Now he's spraying the vase and will soon dunk it in the moist wood chips to cool it down. The liquid type & rate of cooling controls the color, if I understood him correctly. Could be totally wrong... someone correct me.

DSC_3273

More spraying. The colors produced during this process were amazing.

DSC_3276

This went on for a while & finally he began to bury the vase in the moist wood chips.

DSC_3281

And more spraying while partially covered... again to vary the color.

DSC_3282

It was still very hot though.

DSC_3284

And more covering to cool things off.

DSC_3288

Now checking the color and then removal.

DSC_3290

And finally a water bath to cool the whole thing off. He said something about special ingredients in the clay that keep the vase from breaking due to the sudden temperature change.

DSC_3293

The vase handoff was delayed a few seconds while everyone except the guy in the t-shirt took one step back.

Vase Handoff

He finally got the nerve and admired it for a while. I just knew he was gonna drop it, but he didn't. Missed photo opportunity.

Freshly made Vase

And here's the other vase that was sitting there... not the same one, but similarly beautiful.

DSC_3298

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

fantastic shots of the steam rising from the vase!

i totally missed this vase demonstration :(

hc