Collective Conjurings

Please attend the opening of the Side Rail Gallery’s first Raku show, “Collective Conjurings: Six months of Raku”; as part of Georgetown Art Attack. See six months of Side Rail members’ pieces fired under the new moon, From June through December 2023. See video and stills of the Raku process.

In the first session, we’re inspired by images with archetypal meaning then hand build clay sculptures. We begin the session with first writing our private heart’s desire, then burning them to ashes and imbuing the ashes into the clay.

At the second session, about a week later, we glaze our pieces, break for lunch, then raku fire your pieces in an outdoor kiln.

It takes about 30’ to reach proper temperature. We open the kiln at white hot heat and submerge the wares into sawdust and smoke them.

When smoke dies down, we cool the piece with water til we can handle them.

After properly cooled, we scrub the soot off and spectacular colors begin to arise from the soot, with fantastic black crackle patterns shot through the glazes. Occasionally we get a beautiful metallic sheen. It’s hard to describe, its an awe inspiring part of the process.

Raku firing done this way is a means to enter willingly into transformation. The term ‘alchemical’ here means involving a seemingly magical process of combining transformation and creation into something completely unimaginable. Collective awe and joy erupt as we in turn observe one another’s pieces emerge transformed from this amazing firing process!

Organized by Syd Shera - lakshmicollective.com
You can sign up for raku workshops at the show! Contact Syd for dates and more info. Fun idea! Bring a group of four to six people and raku together!!
 (sydsheraclayart@gmail.com).