Amicale

For almost 15 years, I've been helping my wife, Mireille, in firing her sculptures, before begining to make pottery myself. Raku is a firing and enameling technique which was born during the 16^th century in Japan.

After having sculpted or thrown the different subjects from a lump of clay, I fire them during 24 hours (1^st burn) in a potter's kiln (980°). Then, I glaze them before firing (2nd burn) them again (950 - 1020°) in a gas kiln during 45 minutes.

I take the sculptures out of the oven and put them in sawdust that ignites. Then, the carbon smokes settle on the unglazed parts. The very characteristic aspect of the raku comes from the contrast between skiny colors and the matt black. I have been throwing for 4 years after a basic training with a potter master in Alsace, then I followed an advanced training in Belgium and Brittany. My sculptures are very different from each other, it can be a fish, an asian vase, a stylized cat with a small cup, a dish or a bud vase, but always with crackle and moire effects that make colors being very special.