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!



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



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.



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.



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



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



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



It was still very hot though.



And more covering to cool things off.



Now checking the color and then removal.



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.



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



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.



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