Joyce Lee on tue 2 mar 99
Dannon's post about the appropriate care she gives to supervising raku
firing reminded me of a scary raku episode I witnessed...almost scared
me away from raku totally. And, since my non-potter, very
safety-oriented #1 Support Person witnessed it also, I came close to
having little choice about being able to raku or not, since he supplies
the muscle and technical expertise for my clay adventures. (Yes, I know
a woman can do all things by herself so don't post me, but it's awfully
comfortable to have support, and beyond wonderful when that support is
shared according to needs of the moment...or lifetime.)
Back to the episode...see if you agree...or am I just being an
older-than-dirt (although Mel said not to state this again), some sort
of genarian? One truly great, talented, charismatic teacher I know is
waaaay too casual about his raku firings. At one, a guy tripped over
some long raku tongs which were being "stored" on the steps leading down
to the kiln patio. This was in the semi-dark, more dark than semi. He
skidded down several steps rolling on the tongs, sort of like
tong-boarding on his rear. The guy, agile athlete that he is, managed to
catch himself before rolling right into the blazing raku kiln. He was
just in front of us. If it had been I, I'd have been smack flat into
that kiln for sure. People were everywhere spraying freshly fired hot
pots, and carrying other pots directly from kiln to reduction...in the
dark, in a relatively small, narrow area which edged a drop of maybe
couple dozen feet...AND with temporary, hastily erected shelving on the
same patio less than 6 feet from the kiln...the shelving was quaking
with a major burden of the most recently rakued pots sitting on top them
and peeking over the edge. I still get the shudders.
Joyce
In the Mojave...where she does raku fire with a friend, BUT neither of
us talk during the movement of pots from kiln to reduction, AND we have
assigned tasks which we rehearse to see where the glitches might
be...actually must confess that these precautions are mostly to produce
the best pots possible...however, we do recognize the safety aspects.
Joyce Lee on tue 2 mar 99
Dannon's post about the appropriate care she gives to supervising raku
firing reminded me of a scary raku episode I witnessed...almost scared
me away from raku totally. And, since my non-potter, very
safety-oriented #1 Support Person witnessed it also, I came close to
having little choice about being able to raku or not, since he supplies
the muscle and technical expertise for my clay adventures. (Yes, I know
a woman can do all things by herself so don't post me, but it's awfully
comfortable to have support, and beyond wonderful when that support is
shared according to needs of the moment...or lifetime.)
Back to the episode...see if you agree...or am I just being an
older-than-dirt (although Mel said not to state this again), some sort
of genarian? One truly great, talented, charismatic teacher I know is
waaaay too casual about his raku firings. At one, a guy tripped over
some long raku tongs which were being "stored" on the steps leading down
to the kiln patio. This was in the semi-dark, more dark than semi. He
skidded down several steps rolling on the tongs, sort of like
tong-boarding on his rear. The guy, agile athlete that he is, managed to
catch himself before rolling right into the blazing raku kiln. He was
just in front of us. If it had been I, I'd have been smack flat into
that kiln for sure. People were everywhere spraying freshly fired hot
pots, and carrying other pots directly from kiln to reduction...in the
dark, in a relatively small, narrow area which edged a drop of maybe
couple dozen feet...AND with temporary, hastily erected shelving on the
same patio less than 6 feet from the kiln...the shelving was quaking
with a major burden of the most recently rakued pots sitting on top them
and peeking over the edge. I still get the shudders.
Joyce
In the Mojave...where she does raku fire with a friend, BUT neither of
us talk during the movement of pots from kiln to reduction, AND we have
assigned tasks which we rehearse to see where the glitches might
be...actually must confess that these precautions are mostly to produce
the best pots possible...however, we do recognize the safety aspects.
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