Believe it or not, soon the summer days will be slipping away, replaced by the crispness of Autumn. Fall is a great time for some fun & (safe) fire. We have two opportunities for you. The first is our annual Fall B’Raku event, which will take place on September 12, 2015. Now is the right time to start making pieces for this event. Remember to use a grogged clay body and bisque it no hotter than 08. This event continues to be free and open to the public (tips are encouraged to help offset propane and other costs) Watch the website for more details coming soon!
Want to learn more about the Raku process, including a variety of Alternative Firing Styles in a more intimate setting?
Join us September 26-27, 2015 for this fabulous hands-on workshop on Alternative Firing Techniques with a Raku Kiln with renowned artist, Marcia Selsor!
- Participants will learn how to use a raku kiln for a variety of firing applications including preparations, surfaces, decoration, as well as firing variations for: saggar, aluminum foil saggar, raku, obvara, horse hair and feather
- Firing will take place on both days of the workshop. Participants can bring up to 5-9 small pieces: 1-2 for obvara, 1-2 for horse hair and feather , 1-2 for traditional raku, 1 for saggar, 1-2 for aluminum foil saggar.
- Preparations include making terra sigillatta, throwing crackled or textured surfaces, using latex resist for raku, things to experiment with inside saggars, and what salts and acids to try in foil saggar firing.
The early-bird price for this workshop is $300!
Click here to sign up now!
early-bird registration ends August 15th, regular rate will be $350
Tentative Schedule:
Saturday
…meanwhile back in the studio…
Traditional Saggar
10:15-10:20 Marcia will first demonstrate how to make fast terra sigillatta to apply to bone dry pieces.
Obvara
10:30-11 Throwing demo: She will demonstrate some throwing of crackled /textured surfaces for the obvara firing and discuss several approaches for color development in Obvara.
Sunday
Foil Saggar
9:00-10:00 Discuss the foil saggar process. People can apply salts, and other combustibles to the foil saggars .
Western Raku
10:00 – 2:00 Load & fire raku pieces, apply salts, and other combustibles to the foil saggars while the raku kilns are firing, have another delicious meal from Southern Accent
About Marcia Selsor
Marcia Selsor is a Professor Emerita of Art at Montana State University-Billings where she taught for twenty-five years. She holds a B.F.A. from the Philadelphia University of the Arts 1970 and an M.F.A. from S.I.U.Carbondale in 1974, has received two Fulbright Scholars’ Awards: Spain 1985-86 and Uzbekistan 1994. She also received an NEH Summer Seminar stipend to Fordham University 1987. Since her retirement in 2000 she has had studio residencies at: The Straumur Artists’ Commune in Iceland, La Meridiana in Italy, the Mary Anderson Center for Creative Arts in Indiana, The Philadelphia Clay Studio and the Bray Foundation in Helena. Her work is in public and private collections on three continents. Her architectural ceramics and raku plaques have been featured in numerous books and magazines; she has won numerous awards for her work in these venues as well as for her fine art pottery. Selsor has been listed in Who’s Who in America since the 1980s. She was elected to the NCECA Board of Directors in 1990,elected the President of the Potters Council of the American Ceramics Society in 2008. She has presented scholarly papers at conferences in various disciplines in the U.S., Spain, Canada and Wales, written numerous papers, chapters to books, and articles for journals. She currently maintains a studio in Brownsville, TX. and teaches workshops throughout the U.S., Canada, Spain and Italy. http://www.MarciaSelsorStudio.com
“Recently, I have been exploring Alternative Firing Techniques to reduce my carbon footprint while continuing to work in ceramics. Also, I can not avoid reflection not only on the beauty in my surrounding environment in deep South Texas, but the social environment along the Border and in this state, the country and the world. Artists don’t live in a vacuum.”
