In cur live-by-numbers world we can buy clay all clean-and-neat in plastic bags, fire it in a guaranteed, do-it-yourself, educational electric kiln and cover it with Neva-Phail Paint. No muss, no fuss. Splendid! No risk, no excitement: homogenized pottery.

... Or we can say, with Hal Riegger ...

"Raku is more than a way of making ceremonial tea bowls - it is a point of view about pottery and about art. I believe that one should explore and discover things about clay, about how to handle clay, and about fire and to place these in the context of his own being, now."

Raku - By Numbers

1. I like a rough, tough clay with a mind of its own - try 1/3 Tennessee ball clay 1/3 fireclay 1/3 sand or grog

But it is worth experimenting to find a clay body that suits oneself, a loose, underfired one withstands the thermal shock; the rough texture helps the glaze adhere. In any case, mix the clay to a thick slip, age for a few days, dry and form any way you please - throw, pinch, coil sculpt - the fire will teach you - it has a short way with bad construc- tion. We use the above for the saggars. Warm white in oxidation; sooty black in reduction and occasionally warm brown.

Make your pots ... dry ... bisque ~ either in a six hour wood fire or in a kiln - lowish temperature. I toss mine in the top of an earthen- ware glaze firing as my kiln is meven in temperature. The saggar is bisqued.

2. Look for iron and ochre deposits - tailings - iron and manganese

filings - these seem to suit the nature of the firings better than the over-refined oxides. 3.