Raku Classes
Warm weather means it is RAKU time! Sign up for a afternoon event or take the deep dive into a six-week class. new techniques with horse-hair, copper-reduction, ix-weeks of instruction!
OPTION 1: “Second Saturdays” $75 per person. On the second Saturday of each month (weather permitting), we invite the public to participate in an exciting art process that was born in feudal Japan. Choose an original hand-thrown vessel to glaze with our custom or commercial glazes. Watch your piece transform right in front of your eyes. No experience necessary! A perfect date night. Call us at 248-677-3414 to learn more.
OPTION 2: “Six-Week Deep Dive” $300 per person. Six classes—each three hours long—with six-weeks of open studio privileges. Some experience with hand-building or wheel throwing recommended. Not sure if you have enough experience? Call us at 248-677-3414 to find out.
Warm weather means it is RAKU time! Sign up for a afternoon event or take the deep dive into a six-week class. new techniques with horse-hair, copper-reduction, ix-weeks of instruction!
OPTION 1: “Second Saturdays” $75 per person. On the second Saturday of each month (weather permitting), we invite the public to participate in an exciting art process that was born in feudal Japan. Choose an original hand-thrown vessel to glaze with our custom or commercial glazes. Watch your piece transform right in front of your eyes. No experience necessary! A perfect date night. Call us at 248-677-3414 to learn more.
OPTION 2: “Six-Week Deep Dive” $300 per person. Six classes—each three hours long—with six-weeks of open studio privileges. Some experience with hand-building or wheel throwing recommended. Not sure if you have enough experience? Call us at 248-677-3414 to find out.
Warm weather means it is RAKU time! Sign up for a afternoon event or take the deep dive into a six-week class. new techniques with horse-hair, copper-reduction, ix-weeks of instruction!
OPTION 1: “Second Saturdays” $75 per person. On the second Saturday of each month (weather permitting), we invite the public to participate in an exciting art process that was born in feudal Japan. Choose an original hand-thrown vessel to glaze with our custom or commercial glazes. Watch your piece transform right in front of your eyes. No experience necessary! A perfect date night. Call us at 248-677-3414 to learn more.
OPTION 2: “Six-Week Deep Dive” $300 per person. Six classes—each three hours long—with six-weeks of open studio privileges. Some experience with hand-building or wheel throwing recommended. Not sure if you have enough experience? Call us at 248-677-3414 to find out.
ARE YOU RIGHT FOR RAKU?
If you were the 3rd-grader who brought a homemade flamethrower to show-and-tell, you might be right for RAKU. However, if you were the kid who ran away screaming from anyone carrying a book of matches, you can still observe from a safe distance. The ancient art of Raku pottery has something for everyone.
If you enjoy creating art AND setting small fires, congratulations. You have just met your new great love. Art and fire are meant to be together. They are the BFFs of pottery, and it’s about time that you put away the aerosol flame-thrower of the past and do something constructive with those pyromaniac tendencies. Your mom would be proud.
Did you know??? Raku pottery can be glazed and fired in a single evening! This is the art of instant gratification. Check out our detailed class descriptions below…
OPTION 1: “Just One Night” $75 per person
There’s no need to commit to multiple weeks of pottery classes. Grab a date or fly solo and hang out with us around the glorious Raku fire. You will select a piece of bisque ware made by one of our studio artists and glaze it with some of our carefully curated glazes. You will watch your piece being loaded into a raku kiln, and within 20-30 minutes, you will see it emerge nearly transparent and glowing like red-hot lava. Your pottery will be grabbed (gently) with a pair of tongs and tossed (carefully) into a can of combustibles (paper, pine needles, sawdust—pretty much anything that burns easily). After the contents of the can catch fire, we cover it to create an oxygen-reduced environment. In about 45 minutes, your art will emerge ready to be scrubbed clean and taken home.
OPTION 2: “Six weeks” $300 per person
This six-week class is for pottery students who are invested in the pottery experience. With this class, students will get 25-pounds of raku clay, weekly instruction, and access to Clawson Clay Guild open studio hours. You must have some prior experience working with clay—either on the wheel or in hand-building. You will create your own clay projects and learn how to fire pottery in a completely new way. Students have the option to make project-focused peices as directed by our instructors or follow their own initiative and direction in their artwork. Please keep in mind, your work must fit inside the kiln in order to be fired. Your raku class will also cover the following:
Raku strategies for successful firings (keeping things from breaking)
Why raku pottery is not suitable for dinnerware
Fancy techniques for alternative raku firings like alcohol reduction and horsehair raku
Raku history and western influences
Do you have more questions? Don’t hesitate to call us at 248-677-3414. We are looking forward to hearing from you.