A little singed around the edges

I did a raku firing on Friday for a group of chemistry students from SAIT.
They were covering reduction/oxidation reactions and their instructor thought this would be a fun way to demonstrate a real world example. As I was checking the kiln, peering inside to see if the kiln was close to temp, I caught a bit of the heat from the flu, and I got a little bit singed around the temples, and eyelashes :)
I think it went pretty well. They all made their own pieces and of course there was a pipe, ooops...vase in the group.
I will have some pictures and perhaps some video clips to post soon. In the mean time, here are some of my results from the firing.

Raku Demo - March 26

I will be doing a raku demo next week for a chemistry course at SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology). The teacher has arranged for a field trip for her class so that they can witness oxidation and reduction reactions first hand in a fun setting (albeit a bit smokey and stinky).
Dave(the studio owner), hates doing Raku, but thought I would like to do it. I don't really like the flashy raku, I am drawn more to the simple white crackle glazes contrasting with the blackened clay body, but for this class, I think the iridescent copper sand type of glazes would work quite well, as they show the reduction quite nicely. I will take some pictures of the stuff that comes out of the firing and post them if there is anything really nice.

These pics are a pot that I raku fired last summer, and I was quite happy with the result.