Horsehair Raku

Well here's my first horsehair reduction. Though it did not come out as i planned, i am happy i had success with the technique. I used my electric kiln...Don't think i will do it again. The place in which i have the kiln is not heated. Though it got warm do to the firing, the shock to the lid of my kiln was bad. Anyway brought the kiln up to around 1700 degrees F. Not totally sure because i did not have the right cone. So i timed the fire using a 06 junior cone which will bend around 1798 F. Next time i will have the proper cones. I did know that this can be done between 1200 to 1700 degrees, so i had a little play with the range.

I used a miller clay body, the 10T. Low fire white with a higher talc body, i am happy with its result. The problem was i wanted to go with a minimal look with the horsehair...As you can see i did not. I was unable to get my hands on some wool (like the type used to make fiber raku kilns). So when i used my kevlar gloves they did burn a bit and leave marks. So as a result i used more horsehair. It was truly a learning experience though. The hair is a little tough to control unless you drape it. But by the end of the application i was getting some control. Next time should be much better.

I did this for a show coming up called black and white. Last year i think, if i remember correct, was only 2D. This year it is 3D as well. I thought this technique us a great example of the beauty between black and white. I really want to another before the show. I think i have a month to get the slides in...dunno. Hate to risk the kiln again. Really pushing me to get my Raku kiln up and running.