A Potted History

Today's image is of these wonderful glazed pots that my sister created on a Raku Experience Day at Aylesford Pottery at The Friars (our local Carmelite Priory which has been the subject of many a previous blip).
Raku is an unpredictable ancient Japanese firing practice and during her class my sister was shown methods of glazing to give the most effective and impressive results with the pots provided having a choice of different glazes applied and then fired at 1000 degrees C in an outdoor kiln. The pots were next removed at the critical moment and left to burn in combustible material. The pieces were then allowed to cool in water and the ashes scrubbed away revealing the completely individual decoration of each pot (no two pots will be the same).
My sister absolutely loved the class and was delighted with the results you can see here.

The relationship between the Carmelites and the Pottery has been entwined throughout the more recent history of The Friars (which was originally founded in 1242) dating from 1955 when it was started, just nine years after the restoration of The Friars itself began, to the present day where a wide variety of ceramics are produced - gardenware, tableware, crockery, decorative ceramics and ecclesiastical and religious urns - as well as the teaching of pottery through their own ceramics school.