On Saturday, August 1, from 9 am to 5 pm, Claude Smith III will demonstrate the Raku process in the Silver City Museum Courtyard at 312 W Broadway in downtown Silver City. Smith will fire leaves made by local children for a mural in the museum courtyard. Beginning at 9:00 am, children will be able glaze leaves. The firing will follow once the leaves are dry and continue until 5:00. This event is taking place in conjunction with the Silver City Clay Festival and another museum event featuring artist Oralia Lopez and author John Bezy, taking place at the same time in the museum annex.

Claude Smith will provide the glazes and the kilns to allow the leaves to be fired to a temperature of 1850 degrees. Once mature, the children will have the opportunity of making the decision to remove the leaves to cool in the air, oxidizing the glaze and resulting in a typical turquoise color. Otherwise, the clay leaves will be removed to a reduction chamber (trash can with combustible materials) in which the transformation of the pieces will result in variations of red, orange and copper red.

The firing process to be used to finish the leaves of the Silver City Museum tree is called Raku. Raku is an instantaneous process filled with excitement, anticipation and spontaneity. It is the ultimate process of instantaneous completion and creative clay experiences which will satisfy the pyromania and instant gratification of any individual. Once pieces are glazed and dried, they may be placed in the kiln and glaze maturity may be achieved within 15 to 20 minutes.

Paul Soldner, who passed this last year, was the guru of the raku process and innovator of the post-firing reduction facet of the technique. He revolutionized a Japanese process of total oxidation to create not only smoky qualities on the clay surface, but was able to transform the turquoise color of a copper bearing glaze to generate variations of copper to red.

For more information and to find out what's happening at the Silver City Museum, please call (575) 538-5921, email info@silvercitymuseum.org, or go to the museum's website www.silvercitymuseum.org.