Artist spotlight on....

Charlotte Munning

Charlotte Munning is a potter, by trade and by hobby. Her work is a perfect example of the beauty and fire within Raku pottery. A native of Greensboro, North Carolina, Charlotte works from her backyard pottery studio, as both a teacher and artist. As you will see in her Raku, she has captured the embodiement of simplicity and beauty, while adding a creative spin on the traditional design.

ABOUT RAKU POTTERY - The Japanese word RAKU, roughly translated, means contentment, enjoyment and pleasure. It was a process of firing use to produce work of refined simplicity for the Zen Buddhist tea ceremony in the 13th century. The technique was Americanized by Paul Soldier, who developed post-firing techniques in the 1960's.

During a Raku firing, a glazed pot is placed into a kiln. The temperature of the kiln is increased rapidly to 1800-1850 degrees in 45-50 minutes.

When the firing temperature is reached, the kiln is shut off and opened. The red-hot molten pot is removed with long tongs and placed into a metal container filled with combustible material such as paper, sawdust, leaves or straw.

The post firing process creates the oxygen starved, smokey conditions that allosw the copper, cobalt or silver in the glaze to be reduced. This process brings out the wide range of dyanmic colors and patterns found in Raku. The Raki process predates clay pieces that are both unique and magical.