La Montaña en el Mar, is pleased to invite all beings interested in learning the magical ceramic art of “Raku”, an ancient Japanese technique and one of the greatest styles of ceramics in Japan. The workshop is aimed at people with or without experience in ceramics, and will be taught by Holly Deckard and José Cobos and assisted by Martina Vega on two consecutive weekends (March 19-20 and 26-27) with a limited number of participants.
The Raku technique originated in Japan by a potter named Chojiro, who experimented and found a peculiar way of firing his ceramic pieces, later new additions to his technique came from the West. This Japanese technique originated in the 16th century and traditionally creates pieces modeled by hand, without a wheel. Essentially the glazed piece is fired at a violent rate at over 900 °C (1642°F), burning can last between 20 to 30 minutes. When the pieces are removed from the Raku Kiln they are incandescent, in the Japanese tradition they would be allowed to cool in the open air or by spraying them with water, however, the contribution of the West was the reduction chamber.
By taking the pieces glowing from the heat, they are placed in metal containers where there are organic flammable materials such as straw, sawdust, newspaper, among others, when placed in this container they set fire to everything around them, leaving it to burn for about 10 min, quickly covering the container to produce a very strong oxygen reduction that reduces the glazes of the pieces to pure metal, thus leaving unique finishes, such as litmus, crackle and pearlescent.
Holly Deckard is an artist originally from Saint Louis, Missouri, United States. She specializes in pottery and sculpture finished with the Raku technique. She got to know ceramics through a workshop, where she fell in love with working with clay, exploring the science and art of ceramics. Leaving her job as a dietician she decided to be a full time ceramic artist and Raku specialist. What she loves about the Raku technique is definitely the unpredictability and beauty of the piece’s finish, and the connection with fire. Her pieces have been part of some online and physical exhibitions, in Missouri, Illinois, Florida and Minnesota. Finally, Holly arrived in Cuenca, Ecuador in August 2021 eager to share her knowledge with locals and expats. She found in Taller La Montaña en el Mar a small, growing ceramic community, of which she is now a part.
José Cobos is a multidisciplinary architect-artist from Cuenca, with a focus on ceramic sculpture, he has been working in clay for 3 years and has been teaching hand modeling for a year in his workshop in Cuenca-Ecuador. As an artist he seeks to work in any medium, from animation to street art. In ceramic sculpture, his approach begins with play and experimentation, creating images brought from the dream world, often mixing analog and digital work, either digital illustrations (Obra Naku, 2020) or 3D digital rendering (Divino Kid, 2021). This digital analog symbiosis comes from the reflection of art in the present and its hybrid reality.
Martina Vega, graphic designer, animator and potter. She has been working in ceramics for 2 years, and has her “Piponas de Barro” smokeware brand in partnership with José Cobos. She comes from a family of artists that has surrounded her with lines, colors and textures all her life. She was a finalist in the Yaku Museo, Quito short film show last year.
The workshop will begin the weekend of 19-20 and will end on March 26-27 in 2 schedules. No experience is necessary to run the workshop, but of course, experienced potters and artists are also welcome to participate. On the first weekend we will model our pieces, the hours are from 10am to 1pm for the morning group, and for the afternoon it will be from 4pm to 7pm. The pieces to be made can be utilitarian or sculptural, keeping in mind that if they are utilitarian, they can be 3 or 4 pieces, and if it is sculptural, it could take more time, so it could be only one piece or a maximum of two due to time. On March 26th we will glaze our pieces as long as it takes us in the schedules of each group (glazes will not be made that day, but each student will have a copy of the glaze recipes). Finally, the next day (27) we will burn the pieces starting at 5 in the afternoon with both groups.
The cost of the workshop will be $120 dollars and includes:
Special raku clay and glazes, bisque and raku firing, tools borrowed from the workshop, recipes for glazes, learning and all the pieces you make in the workshop will go with you.
This workshop is for adults and teens only.
Contact:
José Cobos
Phone: +593 99 866 1486
Email: lamontanaenelmar@gmail.com
March 19, 20, 26, 27 from 10 AM to 1 PM and 4 to 7 PM, $120, Isabela St 2-39A, Cuenca.
Jose Cobos
