Raku. Ian won the Sunshine Coast Art Award for pottery with his sculptural raku. Raku is one of pottery's most exciting processes. It is a low-fire technique in which pieces, made from a coarse stoneware clay, are glazed and then fired to around 1000 degrees celsius. When the glaze has matured, the pieces are removed from the kiln using tongs, and placed into bins of combustible material. The bins are covered and allowed to smoke and after a short time, each piece can be cooled in water. This is only one of many firing techniques and there is no end to experimentation. the whole firing process is very fast, exciting and the results can be breathtaking.

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