7 Inch Long - Puffer Fish Raku Pottery Free Shipping

Raku Puffer Fish in Copper metallic Glaze. Part of my Nautical Series of Undersea Art. This little guy is about 8 inches in length & was thrown from a 1.5 lb piece of clay. I throw the form & intentionally leave a finger-mark on the vessel while it is expanded from the inside out. I choke & collar the clay until I form what will become the mouth of the fish. After a little drying I place the form onto its belly & add the features such as the tail, fins & face. He is signed on his bottom-side. Like all my work I Once Fire the fish after carefully glazing. I use the Raku Method as it was taught to me by my old boss Bruce Odell. Firing peaks at about two-thousand degrees. Once cooled to about fifteen-hundred I reach in & pull the little guy out of the kiln & spray with alcohol & submerge him in a pit of saw dust. I move the vessel in & out of the sawdust inorder to control color development. Its a hands on approach to Raku. A little more painful then traditional raku processes. The burning carbon distinguishes the crackles to produce the desired effect. Nolan's short story: Nolan has been a potter for over thirty years & is the founder of Round Tree Pottery. Nolan founded Round Tree back in 1999 with the help of Mitchell Grafton. Both Nolan & Mitchell are proteges of Bruce Odell & combined twelve years of experience working for Bruce. Nolan started Round Tree with a borrowed potters wheel & a single trash can kiln in Panama City Florida. Within six years the Work of Round Tree could be found in over four-hundred fine-craft & art galleries across America. At its peak Round Tree employed a dozen people, seven of which were potters. We had a good run Nolan says, but it wasn't sustainable in a declining economy. Currently Nolan Windholtz's work is still carried in sixty Fine Art an Fine Craft Galleries across America. Until the economy rebounds, His is a one man operation. Because of his success & the sculptural aspects of his work, Nolan is considered Americas most collected clay artist. in addition to being a professional potter Nolan, working through faith based organizations, spends several months every year in nations like Uganda. in the spring of 2014 Nolan traveled to Jinja Uganda where he trained three young Ugandans in the craft of wheel thrown pottery. Nolan brought them a potters wheel, built them a kiln & helped them through their first sales event. The three have now formed what is called The Potters House restaurant/studio. All sales help further Nolan's dream of helping creative people in third world countries develop business of their own. See more at Nolans potters house ministry on Facebook. Nolan now spends 4-5 months in Africa each year participating in many various Christian works which now includes The Nissi Project children's home. 7 Inch Long - Puffer Fish Raku Pottery Free Shipping