Raku Workshop : Julien and Dimitri
Raku is a Japanese word, literally meaning “pleasure”, but it is now widely known as a method of firing pottery. Basically, it involves firing pottery at a fairly low temperature, and low melting glazes, then cooling it off quickly, and this results in colours and patterns forming on the surface of the sculpture or plate or whatever. This portrait is of Julien and one of his students, Dimitri. We held Raku workshops about once a year, just when we felt like doing them. We didn’t advertise them, we just asked around for interested people, and we always found enough. They were held at our studio at the time, on the corner of Boundary and Racecourse Roads, so it was probably one of the loudest studios in Melbourne. The workshops weren’t profitable, but that wasn’t the point — it was just fun helping artists we knew, meeting ones we hadn’t before, and opening their eyes to new artistic possibilities. Also, it was always a pleasure to see Julien teach — his teaching style, methods and personality never failed to educate, entertain and inspire. He was a great wheel-throwing teacher, a great potter teacher. Seeing him during these workshops was always a joy because it was obvious that he loved what he was doing.