Raku and Other Reactions

I went back to Moundville today for their Fusing Red Earth pottery exposition.  The day started off fairly grim and nasty, but by the time I finally dragged myself out of the house and made the long drive over, it cleared out and was lovely for it.  The handful of potters and artisans came from all over, really, to show their takes on traditional Native American pottery and other crafts with iconography linked to the Southeastern tribes.

There was a potter who was doing raku pieces on site.  One of my friends and colleagues who does pottery is sort of fascinated by raku and longs to make his own raku setup.  I watched for awhile as pieces were "born" right there, outdoors, in the middle of the grassy space in front of the museum.  That was pretty amazing.  Raku itself is pretty amazing.  If you don't know anything about it, you can read more here.  Every piece is a one-of-a-kind.  Every time, the reduction firing creates something magical.  There's that moment when the piece is revealed, and every one is beautiful.  Even though I don't do vessels when I do make pottery since I prefer to handbuild figures, I can understand my friend's love of the form.

I didn't stay very long, just a couple of hours, maybe.  The mounds were too busy with the glorious sunny weather to provide much tranquility today.  I sat near the river for awhile and wrote, and then I decided to head home.  I have information about another pottery show opening later this month, this one dedicated just to tea bowls, so I guess I'll be trekking back that way again later on.