Clay Dragons

I chose some names for these pieces that are so basic, I almost don't even need to make a note of them. Yet I will anyway.

Red Dragon, 4" x 15" x 8". $85.00

Laying Dragon, 4" x 14" x 7". Not For Sale
This is the dragon I like the most mainly because of the colours I managed to achieve. The process that got me these colours is called raku firing. Basically,first you make the piece out of raku clay (clay with grit in it) and glaze it with special glazes meant for raku firing. Then it gets bisk fired for preparation and fired again in a kiln outside powered by a torch (the second firing is the raku firing). Once the outside kiln reaches 1000 degrees or so, you take the piece out of the kiln while it's still piping hot and put it in a pot full of combustibles like paper shreddings, newspaper and hay, close it and cover the bin with wet rags. After a certain amount of time (I forget how long), you take it out ( it may be still hot, so use tongs), hose it down, and voila! A one-of-a kind piece. Don't quote me on the sequence of steps for raku firing because I may be wrong. With raku firing, you can never really be certain how the colours and patterns will turn out, but to give you an idea, I think I used a glaze called "oil spot" for the main body of this dragon above.
A little side-tip if you're going to try this: don't hang your head over the heat source/vent because your hair and eyebrows could singe up.

Black Dragon, 4" x 14.5" x 6.5". $80.00

I made each of these dragons at ArtBeat.