Page 2

page2

Raku Yaki Workshop

On October 26, 2002, a group of enthusiastic JTAT members and friends had participated in Raku Yaki Workshop at the Kingwood College Ceramics Lab. The day was feared for a thunderstorm and flooding, however, it turned out to be a wonderful fall day for the workshop.

Lance Frazior, a professor of Ceramics at the college, greeted the participants. According to the handout, Raku Yaki evolved from a Japanese ritual. Raku is a style and process of pottery that originated in Kyoto, Japan during the Momoyama period. It was their son Chojiro, under the guidance and patronage of the Kyoto Tea Master, Sen-no-Rikyu, who brought the ware to the attention of the Emperor Hideyoshi. Sen-no-Rikyu incorporated the philosophy known as Wabi-no-Chado in which Zen principles such as simplicity, harmony, and restraint were brought into his tea. The word Raku means enjoyment, pleasure, comfort, happiness, or content. Raku was and is still prized by Japanese tea masters for its unpretentious and aesthetically pleasing form, which embodies the ideals of Zen Buddhism and Wabi. In Japanese aesthetics, Wabi entails austerity (severe simplicity), transience (stopping only briefly), seclusion (to screen from view), and tranquility (free from agitation). Wabi is the intangible essence of the tea ceremony, thus, Raku has become the tangible result of these ideals.

Due to the time constrain, Frazior prepared four bisqued vases for each participant. Raku wears usually undergo low temperature, about 1500-1800 degrees. The kiln was hand made. The fuel was propane gas. Total of three firing was performed during the workshop. The first firing, the participants leaned to draw lines with horsehairs on the red burning wears. Upon contact, the horsehair curled and burned over the hot surface leaving traces of dark lines. The second and third firing, the vases were either brushed in with glaze or dipped into the bucket of glaze. When the kiln temperature reached 1800 degrees, the vases were taken out with tongs and quickly covered in pine needles or shredded papers. The vases were then capped with tin cans, thus vacuum was created. A brief but interesting step called, "burping" to add oxygen into the can aided the spectacular coloring of vases. The smoldering vase was then taken out from ashes, and rinsed by cold water to reveal coloring of fire. The entire process was intense yet the physical involvement allowed the participants to stay tuned in every phase of the way from the beginning to the end. The workshop was truly an enjoyable and memorable event!

Besides Raku Yaki, the participants created some pinch pots and wheel throwing from fresh clay. At break time, green tea was served in the teacups made by Frazior. After the workshop, the participants visited the art gallery on campus, where a collaborative installation entitled; "Wabi Sabi" was shown.

Raku Yaki workshop can be arranged any season of the year, and it will certainly arranged in the 2003. Keep your eyes and ears open for the announcement.

Mari Omori

TFLA

Texas Foreign Language Association's fall conference took place in Ft. Worth during the first weekend in November. There were many exciting presentations including great Japanese presentations. The spring conference will be at Omni Bayfront Hotel in Corpus Christi, TX from March 27-29, 2003.

Here are some snapshots from the conference.

11/8/2002 A.M.(click to enlarge)