Welcome
I hope you enjoy looking at my pots and this website.
My work focuses on carbon trapped porcelain. Carbon trapping happens when the kiln is made very smoky at a certain stage in the firing, and the glazes are formulated to capture the carbon from that smoke. This can produce a number of accidental results, which I love. There is a magic in opening a kiln full of surprises. It can be disappointing of course. A kiln opening can be Christmas or Halloween. If the glaze traps no carbon, it is a bright orange (or white depending on the formula). Where it does trap carbon it can move between black, creamy, or grey – or a mixture of all of these. I have recently begun to incorporate photographs taken by my husband, Brian Nichol, into my pots. They are fired on the pots after the glaze firing. The risk was that I would lose carbon, but I have managed to keep it - even though it is altered by the process. If you are interested in: seeing my studio or more of my pots, or being on my email list for open studios and other events: Lou Raye's studio Cary, NC By appointment phone 919-303-5848 |
Photographs by Brian Nichol