* Calendar - Where's Gary?
* Click Away - Raku on the Web

Hello Subscribers!

The Holiday season is upon us and the end of 2003 is creeping up fast. It will be 2004 before we know it. I want to be one of the first to wish you Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year and thank you all for the continual feedback and support for the newsletter. It is very appreciated!

If you have any book, music, video, or appliance buying to do for the gift-giving season, please consider visiting Amazon via the following link: http://tinyurl.com/x5xa
A small percentage of each purchase will support the newsletter and will be greatly appreciated.

If you are looking for a unique gift for the Raku potter on your list (this can be yourself by the way), check out:
http://www.cafepress.com/gotraku

As always, if you want to make sure each issue gets to you and not blocked by your ISP or S/P/A/M filter, subscribe to the paper version of the newsletter via the following link:
http://tinyurl.com/penz

Remember I always look forward to your feedback, suggestions, questions, and article ideas at: mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Gary R. Ferguson
- Raku Artist -
mailto: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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Would you like to dine out for 1/2 price? Get the annual Entertainment book now and save 50% at your favorite restaurants. Free shipping is still available at: http://tinyurl.com/ubmk
I personally get at least one every year.
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* From the Studio *

Shows Over
My scheduled shows are over for 2003. Sniff…sniff. I picked up the unsold pieces from the Beaux Arts show and was a little disappointed. Sales were definitely down this year but this appeared to be the case for many of the artist so I didn't feel so bad. More for eBay this way - right!

Ebay Listings.
I've continued to list pieces on eBay. It seems to run hot and cold. One week almost every piece sells and the next week almost nothing sells. I guess it just depends on if the "right" bidder is surfing eBay on the "right" day. Regardless I will continue more eBay listings - at least for the near future. You can seem my current listings at:
http://tinyurl.com/tn08

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Got Raku?
http://www.cafepress.com/gotraku
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* Article *

eBay Your Raku: What Other Artist Do - Part II

In part II of Ebay your Raku I will share what the survey revealed about prices, reserves, listing options, auction length, and closing times.

In continuing with analyzing the eBay questionnaire results, I wanted to know what price ranges these Raku artists listed. The entire gambit of prices from $10 to $400 was reported, but an emphasis was on the lower end of spectrum, which was $20 to $40. One thought is the lower priced items sell easier with the idea it could lead bidders to the artist's websites to purchase larger items.

With any auction listing there has to be a starting price. How these starting prices are determined vary by artist. Some start with their wholesale price, some the cost of production, and some start with the minimum they are willing to accept. All of these methods have merit and you should keep in mind that the starting bid could end up being the closing price unless you use a reserve price.

A reserve price is a price the listing must reach before you are obligated to sell the item to the highest bidder. The bidders do not know the reserve price, so some bidders will not bid on a "reserve" auction. Most of the survey participants indicated they rarely if ever list reserve auctions.

On eBay, there are several additional services that can be purchased and included in your listing such as Bold, Gallery, Featured, etc. The one service that was almost universally purchased is the Gallery option which means a thumbnail of your listing picture is included in any search result screens so the potential bidder can see the item without having to actually open the listing. At .25 seems like a good investment.

A listing can be set to run for 3, 5, 7, or 10 days. Most of the artists list their art for 7 days, with 5 days being the second most popular. Even thought most bidding activity happens on the first and last day of a listing, having an item listed for 7 days give the bidders more exposure and the opportunity to drive more traffic to your website from your eBay listing.

When an auction ends, can be very important as well. Most indicated they do not focus on ending an auction on any particular day of the week, but most schedule their auctions to end in the evening when the most bidders are online.

One last type for eBaying your art is to make sure you have quality photos of your pieces in your listing. This is the only way a bidder has to interact with the piece, so the more photos the better and the photos need to accurately reflect the piece (not too dark, light, or off color).

Hopefully this has peaked your interested into using eBay to market your Raku. If you do not already have an account, you can easily open a free one by clicking the link http://www.qksrv.net/click-411938-2202641
and then click on the register menu option at the top of the screen.

Once again I would like to thank the participants of the survey. Please visit their sites below:

Zion Canyon Raku, Norman & Janet Prentice
Website http://www.rakufountains.com
EBay Listings: http://tinyurl.com/tur0

William K. Turner
Website: http://www.Raku.zoovy.com
Ebay Listings: http://tinyurl.com/turo

Warewolf (James) Orchard Pots
Website: http://www.geocities.com/whitlles2000/index.htm
Ebay Listing: http://tinyurl.com/tusk

Pauline Van Drent
Website: http://www.vandrentimages.com
EBay Listings: http://tinyurl.com/tuss

Shelley Cignoli
Website: http://www.cignolipottery.com

Rod Sanata
Ebay Listings: www.stores.ebay.com/sanatapotteryartsandraku

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Raku: A Practical Approach by Steven Branfman
The "nuts and bolts" how-to book of Raku
Order 30% off at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5k
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* Tips and Techniques *

Another alternative to wax resist is Vaseline. This works great around the base of a piece or to create resist patterns that would be difficult with a brush. You can quickly spread Vaseline on piece with your finger and not worry about dripping or loading up a brush properly.

You just want to be carefully handling the piece with your Vaseline fingers. If you fingers are not completely clean of Vaseline, you will leave smudge marks on the piece that will resist the glaze when applied later.

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New! For a limited time only you can get Just Raku Logowear. This is a great way to show your support for the newsletter. To see what is available go to:
http://www.cafepress.com/justraku
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* Q & A *

Q: I am having some difficulty when I trim the pots that have grog or the like in them. The problem is that the grit or grog leaves unpleasing circumferential lines around the pot as the trim tool cuts the clay. This is particularly a problem with Raku clay. Does this make any sense to you and do you have any suggestions for me?

A: I have a couple of ideas for you to try to fix your grog skids:
- Trim with the clay a little dryer. This way the grog is less likely to push into stiffer clay.
- Make sure your trimming tool is good and sharp. If it is dull, it is more likely to drag against the clay instead of carve the clay.
- Use a rib after trimming. I use a rubber rib to smooth the sides after I'm finished trimming with the tool. It almost has a burnishing effect if turned long enough or fast enough.

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Show your support for the Just Raku Newsletter by pledging a donation of any size at: http://tinyurl.com/52cq
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* Glazing *

Blackened Lizard Skin - Oops
10 Borax
15 Lithium Carbonate
70 Gerstley Borate
20 Nepheline Syenite
40 Manganese Carbonate
5 Copper Carbonate
.5 Chrome Oxide

I guess this would be considered a Cajun recipe. :) I mixed up a batch of Lizard skin recently but accidentally used Manganese Carbonate (Brown) instead of Magnesium Carbonate (White). I went ahead and tried the glaze and got interesting results. I got a glossy black with flashing of silvery copper. It was very runny where it was applied thicker.

Well worth a try.

Moral for the day - Not all accidents are bad.

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Raku Pottery by Robert Piepenburg
The must have "Bible" of Raku
Order at: http://tinyurl.com/8m5b
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* Reader Feedback *

Hi Gary,
I've recently discovered your newsletter and website, and appreciate your willingness to share with other potters. I learned Raku from Robert Piepenburg at a workshop near Vail, Colorado in 1984, and find I'm still learning with every day in the studio. Piepenburg is a generous teacher and human being, and had an impact on both my approach to the medium and to my own teaching. Now that I'm retired from teaching, I'm enjoying being in the studio full time.

When your reader was asking about the advisability of firing freshly glazed pots, one of my first thoughts (after agreeing that the top of the kiln is a good place to finish drying freshly glazed pots) was that I always put a cool scrap of soft brick on the hot kiln shelf before placing a pot on it. Many times, the shock of placing the pot on a hot shelf is the cause of cracking or worse, and besides, it means that if a glaze runs off the foot, the mess is removed with the soft brick rather than ruining the shelf. You probably do the same, but it bears repeating, especially for beginners who might not think of it.

I noticed that your very nice piece in 500 Bowls incorporates both copper matt and crackle glazes. My experience has been that these need different post-firing reduction environments, and that one of the hardest things is to get beautiful crackle adjacent to rich copper matt effects. Often, when I leave the pot out in the air to cool enough to get dramatic crackle, it's a bit too cool for the copper matt effects I'm seeking. If I reduce the copper matt quickly enough, the crackle is less distinct. Any tips that you've found to marry them happily?

Again, thanks for sharing,

Dan F. - Colorado

As you probably saw in past issues of the Just Raku newsletter, I was lucky enough to take a workshop from Piepenburg as well. I would agree with your opinion of they guy. He is very caring and sharing.

I usually let my kiln cool for about 10 minutes between firings and I also use kiln stilts (in place of a brick), but a brick is a good idea as well.

Crackle and copper matte challenges me as well. The bigger problem I have is the crackle typically wants to be fired hotter than the matte, so I usually end up with a semi-gloss copper matte.

The way I fire a "combo" piece is to pull the piece and hold in the air about 8-10 seconds (normal for my matte firing). Then you want to make sure you get a good flame (and later smoke) in your reduction chamber to color the clay in cracks of the glaze. I also apply the crackle glaze much thicker than the matte to help with the crackle effect as well. A lot of times I just what the white as a contract and don't care if it crackles as much as I would on a piece that was primarily just a crackle glaze.

Thanks for the feedback and input!

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Dear Mr. Ferguson,
Can you assist me, please? I am trying to use velvet underglazes in a reduction environment, however they are burning out. How do I prevent this? Shall I cover them with a 06 clear glaze or something else to prevent this from happening or shall I just stay with oxidation when using these underglazes? I understand that the underglazes are not really glazes at all, but I am hoping that you can shed some light on this bottleneck. Thank you for the newsletter, once again.
With appreciation,
Susan R.

Yeah, underglazes are meant to be used "under" a "glaze." :) So you are correct. You can use these under a clear crackle, and you should get pretty much the color of the underglaze as applied, but in some cases the color is off. You may want to get a test pot and glaze a strip of each
underglaze you have and then coat the entire piece with a clear crackle, fire it, and see what the results are like.
Hope this helps.

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[In Response to reader email Rick H.]

Hello,
We are in the process of formulating a new Potter's Guild in Eastern Michigan (the Eastern Michigan Mud Slingers Potter's Guild, Mud Slingers for short). We will not have our own separate building (ie be a separate entity) as we are working in cooperation with the local art association to start out. But to get the word out, we contacted all local art association, local potters, and the local community college with flyers to pass out to interested individuals. I also hit the local coffee shops, book stores and other places where artistic folk hang to post info. Had our first meeting last night with lots of interest. Contact any guilds within your state. I have found that they are extremely helpful people, willing to share all kinds of info. I contacted the Ann Arbor Potter's Guild, the Greater Lansing Potter's Guild and the Jackson Potter's Guild. I am sure that you have other guilds in your state. Also check out the Orchard Valley Guild web site in California. Their newsletter is AWESOME!
Best wishes in your venture,
Amy Yeip
PS Any local artists interested in our guild can contact via my email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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