WELCOME TO SAND DUNE RAKU

My first raku “experience” was in a class at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, in 2003. I was immediately drawn in by the inherent drama and decisiveness of its firing process. There could be no second thoughts or revisions. The image emerged with a finality, transfixed in the clay plate with stresses, cracks and imperfections that incorporated themselves magically into the composition. The format, unlike a stretched canvas, was raw and uneven and could be varied. This gave each work a primitive yet modern resonance and severity of design. As a painter, I appreciated the vast palette of blacks, whites and intermediates offered by the matte and gloss raku glazes. They transformed an ordinary bisque plate into an intimate luminous universe where phosphorescent bursts are cut off by impenetrable black voids. This medium engaged and captivated me with its simplicity, directness and ... mystery.