Herkimer Central School District high school ceramics students had the opportunity to work with a guest artist to have their ceramics works heated in a kiln outside during a Raku firing workshop on Thursday, May 15.
About 40 students in grades 10-12 who took ceramics classes in fall 2024 or this spring with Herkimer art teacher Heather McCutcheon participated in the Raku firing workshop put on by Lauren Nels, an art teacher at Homer Jr. High School who visited the Herkimer Middle-High School.
“We’re able to be outside and try some different ceramics work,” McCutcheon said. “Other than having a guest artist come in and do this, we could not have this opportunity.”
Students made clay pieces in class ahead of time in preparation for the workshop. During the event, they had choices for decorating their artwork including putting on glaze before the Raku firing, dipping the pieces in a yeast mixture after the firing or using horse hair or peacock feathers to create markings on the pieces while they are still hot after the firing.
Having the different options and doing the Raku firing is a different experience for students compared to using the ceramics kiln in class, which takes much longer to heat up and cool down, McCutcheon said.
“It’s nice with this because you can see the whole process within an hour,” she said.
McCutcheon, who is also the coordinator of the Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES Arts in Education program, arranged for Nels to put on a Raku firing workshop for 20 art teachers in Herkimer County in March at Herkimer Middle-High School as well, and the teachers enjoyed that, she said. The Arts in Education program also covered the costs of the Herkimer Central School District workshop, she said.
Another perk of the ceramics class is that it’s a College Now course, so students are able to earn college credit through Herkimer College, McCutcheon said.
“It’s a great opportunity for them,” she said.
Nels said she is thankful that Homer Central School District lets her put on workshops and spread the word about Raku firing ceramics. She said she usually does professional development for teachers first and then gets invited to work with students.
As students see their works come out of the Raku firing kiln and see how the pieces have developed or changed colors from the glaze, their interest in the process goes up, Nels said.
“Once they see it, they’re hooked – every time,” she said.
All of the artwork comes out as one of a kind because of the way the heat affects the glaze and creates colors, Nels said.
During the process, ceramics pieces are put onto shelves in the kiln, and then a cover is put on the top, and gas lines running to the kiln are used to heat it up. Once the temperature reaches 1,800 degrees, the pieces can be removed. Students are able to help by covering the cans filled with combustibles such as sawdust and pieces of paper that the works are put into after the firing. Students also get to clean off the pieces afterward and see how they come out.
Nels said it brings her great joy to see the students enjoy the workshop.
“It’s something I love to do myself, so when they experience it, it’s really eye-opening for the kids, and they love it,” she said. “Whenever I come out for one of these, I’m in the best mood on the way home – like blasting music.”
Herkimer ceramics students said they had fun during the workshop, which had sessions throughout the morning and afternoon.
“I think it’s really cool because you see the different glazes switching colors as you look at it,” senior Chase Canter said. “I like the project because I get to be hands-on, I get to help the teachers and I get to do my own design that I like.”
Senior Katie Batara said she found the workshop “cool” and “interesting.”
“I like glazing it and watching it change,” she said, adding that you don’t know how it will come out or what colors it will turn. “It’s a mystery, kind of.”
Senior Madi Retamar said the event was fun and that she liked how students could use horse hair or peacock feathers to make markings on the pieces after they were removed from the kiln.
“I enjoyed watching the patterns it made when it burned onto the Raku,” she said.
Junior Jaylyn Gregory said she appreciated the options such using the glaze, the horse hair and the peacock feather.
“It’s cool seeing the different ways you can do it,” she said. “It’s all super cool.”
Senior Fozzy Ibrahim said the workshop was “very fun” and “very exciting.”
“I hope more kids get to experience this because it’s like, ‘Oh, my God,’” she said.
Senior Chase Pettengill helped put the lids on the cans after Nels put pieces in them during one of the sessions. He said he was a little nervous during that part but that it was exciting to be a part of it.
“I think it’s a lot of fun,” he said. “I think it’s a really unique experience. I’m really glad we were able to do this.”
Senior Sophia Blais used a peacock feather to decorate the ceramic bird she created.
“It was super fun,” she said. “The vision I had for how the bird would look is exactly like how this looks.”
Blais said she was worried the bird was going to break because it’s small, detailed and fragile, and she thought she might mess up the peacock feather part, but it all came out how she hoped.
“It’s perfect,” she said. “I’m so happy.”
Lauren Nels, an art teacher at Homer Jr. High School, moves a ceramics piece from a hot can into water for cooling as Herkimer Central School District ceramics students look on during a Raku firing workshop Nels put on for students on Thursday, May 15, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer senior Sophia Blais uses a peacock feather to decorate a ceramic bird she made that just came out of a Raku firing kiln on Thursday, May 15, at Herkimer Middle-High School, as Herkimer art teacher Heather McCutcheon helps her out.
Homer Jr. High School art teacher Lauren Nels (left) and Herkimer art teacher Heather McCutcheon (right) remove ceramics pieces after they were heated in a Raku firing kiln on Thursday, May 15, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer junior Jaylyn Gregory (left) puts the lid on a can after Homer Jr. High School art teacher Lauren Nels (right) placed a ceramics piece that was just heated in a Raku firing kiln into the can on Thursday, May 15, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer senior Chase Canter waxes a ceramics piece after it cooled from being heated in a Raku firing kiln on Thursday, May 15, at Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer senior Katie Batara brushes glaze onto a ceramics piece to prepare it for being placed in a Raku firing kiln on Thursday, May 15, at Herkimer Middle-High School.
Herkimer senior Chase Pettengill puts the lid on a can a ceramics piece that was just heated in a Raku firing kiln was placed into the can on Thursday, May 15, at the Herkimer Middle-High School.