Raku Pictures (and thoughts)...

So I never got around to putting pictures up from my Raku firing. A couple pieces came out well. One of them is on view at a Prudential art show in Newark - giddy up.

I've been giving quite a bit of thought to the overarching pottery and faith theme that will become a part of my final project for Drew. There's a lot more to do, but what I'm learning is that pottery has become a way for me to embody my faith. Religion for me has always been a very academic undertaking. It's been very cerebral.

I think this is where the evangelical traditions have a much stronger understanding of a holistic faith than the frozen chosen (i.e. Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Catholics, etc). You're much more likely to find us with our hands crossed in prayer, polite nods and genuflecting on Sundays. There are other faiths who dance, sing, clap and raise their hands in praise. That just isn't me. It doesn't work for me. But I realize that I'm missing that aspect of embodying what I feel in my faith.

I've been doing pottery for two years now. Pottery has become both a creative and a spiritual experience for me. I'm slowly coming to realize that this is helping me to embody my faith. A part of my spiritual development that I didn't realize was absent is slowly coming into focus. I hope to continue to grow into this aspect of my faith.

Who knows, maybe it will actually turn into a recommendation that we all find some activity that helps us begin to see experience the incarnation of our faith.

This is the scene when I arrived at 8:00 am. That big think is the kiln. There is a smaller, unassembled kiln to the left.

This is around 8:00pm. Yes. That is twelve hours after I got there. There is a pot in front of them that was removed from 1800+ degree kiln and put on a pile of sawdust (hence the fire), then covered by the aluminum tin. It gives the piece a black (the carbon from the smoke) crackled finish to the glaze.

A look inside the kiln.










The fiber kiln in use.








Me, all dolled up in fire-resist attire.








That's one of my pots.







This is an interesting video. It is one of my pots that has been out of the kiln for about 20 to 30 minutes. It has been set aside to cool. You'll see the sparks and heat continue to act inside the piece. It reminds me of when we are done with some important act in our lives. When we've completed some major event. We think it is over - but I believe it is then that God continues to act in our lives - transforming that event into something even greater.