DESCRIPTION: I have been intrigued with the traditional Japanese raku firing process for years. Since my first experience with this firing process in my undergraduate studies, my amazement at the varied results continues to grow. For instance, this ceramic pot was initially fired to cone 04 a medium bisque temperature. Then it was glazed with a compound of various glass forming elements as well as various sources of copper. The pot was then fired in a raku kiln to about 1700 degrees F until the glaze had melted and was glowing red hot. I then placed the pot into a metal trash bin filled with colored papers that ignited immediately. As the flames grew, I placed a lid on the can to smother the flames. The flames used all of the oxygen in the closed container creating a reduction environment. This reduction in oxygen caused the copper molecules to come to the surface searching for oxygen to bind with resulting in this high gloss copper finish.