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Not even a burst of rain could keep the kilns from firing at Raku Fest, an annual event at Lyons Township High School where students decorate pots, vases and other items and get to see first-hand one way unique finishes are created.
Smoke puffed from the ring of kilns set up in the parking lot at the south campus in Western Springs as metallic or crazed finishes were created Friday for hundreds of pieces that were made in advance.
Students got busy inside a classroom where they chose pieces to finish. They then used brushes to paint designs in wax on the items. They moved next in to a hallway where they dipped their creations into buckets of glaze. Another step was to take them to the kilns where Carl Mankert of Chicago Kiln Services and adult volunteers oversaw the firing.
“It’s an Oriental firing technique that’s appreciated for the metallic and crazed finishes we get,” Mankert said.
Mankert said he likes to introduce students to the technique that is different from using electric kilns and produces different results.
“I show them something they usually can’t do,” he said.
He also enjoys that Raku Fest is about teachers and student artists coming together as a group to create their works.
“A lot of art is done alone in a studio for hours on end without interaction. This is the opposite of that. It shows them how mentoring and working together to achieve a result,” he said.
Mary Lempa, a special education aide at the school, likes how Raku Fest introduces students to a process they wouldn’t normally use.
“I love that the pots come out hot. It gives them a sense of how hot the kiln is,” she said.
As she painted a small vase with wax, Heather Munyon, 16, a sophomore from Countryside, said she enjoyed the camaraderie of Raku Fest and that it is open to all students.
“You get to interact with a bunch of people and you can make a piece even if you aren’t in an art class,” she said.
Sydney Weber, 15, a sophomore from La Grange Park, sat next to Munyon. Weber decorated a small figurine in the shape of a burro.
The pieces are not only pretty, but some are functional. At last year’s event Weber made an item she still uses.
“I made a pinch pot,” she said. “I still use it for my hair bands and clips.”
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