These past weeks, JHS art students took part in Raku pottery with local potter, Todd Tabb. Todd was this year's visiting artist and taught students the intricate art of Raku pottery. Todd is the co-owner of Hometown Potters, a local pottery studio located in Lewistown. He visited Juniata High School in February to build the pots and teach students about Raku, and once again last week to fire the creations of the art students.
Raku uses a rougher type of clay and has a distinct firing process. Todd worked hands on with students and taught them how to hand-build pots and gave them instructions on how to use the pottery wheel. Art students were tasked with creating a piece of pottery using either the hand-build technique or the wheel.
After students composed their pots they had the opportunity to glaze them with new materials and techniques. Glazing with Raku is different because you can use glazes such as a copper glaze, or after-firing options like using horse hair to make patterns on the ceramics. When firing, the kiln (which is kind of an oven) has to reach an impressive temperature of 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. After the kiln reached the desired temperature students worked rapidly to take out their pots and place them in buckets with sawdust and newspaper. After the pottery had cooled a little in the buckets JHS art students took them out and observed what they made.
