Horsehair Raku

These pots have been burnished to a smooth finish and decorated using terra sigillatta. This liquid is made up of very fine clay particles that create the effect of a polished surface. It's hard to believe that these shiny pots are just polished clay and there is no glaze in sight! When raku firing the pot, horsehair, feathers, and other organic materials are precisely applied to create delicate carbon trails and smoke patterns.

Raku pot with terra sigillatta, feathers, sugar and horsehair (2021). 



A feather is being applied to a pot that has been heated to 700 degrees celsius. You can see that the carbon released from the feather is instantly trapped into the clay body. 


Here is an example of a effect that I have nicknamed 'Ghost Feathers'. Each feather is applied to the heated pot at precisely the right moment to create a contrasting design. The lighter feather on the left is placed on the pot at it's hottest point, and the feather on the right is placed when the pot is 100 degrees cooler. This ying and yang decoration has taken many years to perfect.

The Great Pottery Throw Down

Three of my raku pots were featured on series 8, episode 4 of 'The Great Pottery Throw Down' .They were used as examples of what the contestants were asked to make for that episode. The segment uses work from well known potters who have experitise in that  particular area of ceramics. 

Keith Brymer Jones and Richard Miller filming the 'perfect' perfect' segment. (Photograph: Channel4/Love Productions).

Keith Brymer Jones handling one of my raku vases. He described it as "an amazing example" and commented on how the  feather is "instilled in heat and time". (Photograph: Channel4/Love Productions).