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Jake Black Throughout my forty years of ceramic work I"ve found a real satisfaction in experiencing the challenges of exploring the many facets of clay. While continuing my love for creating functional stoneware I have become excited by the new directions low-fired techniques have to offer. My most recent pursuits have included raku, pit-firing, saggar-firing, burnished terra sigillata and lately the gold-fumed. Kosai work with its characteristic iridescent color. My interest in the learning of new techniques has taken me too many clay courses in Canada as well as the US, Denmark, England and the Netherlands. It's in the creating of masks, wall panels, decorative plates and vessels using these new techniques that I have found my greatest satisfaction. KOSAI WARE - Thirty years ago an American professor researched a technique which involved the fuming of gold that had been sprayed on pottery surfaces. This technique was kept secret for all thirty years. Just recently he began to share his research and gave it the name "KOSAI WARE", which is a Japanese expression for hue of light. The technique involves the fuming of gold that has been sprayed onto the pottery surface, using the chemical stannous chloride. The interaction of the salt and the gold provides a beautiful permanent iridescent surface.
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Artists Bios 
