Graham Macey Marine House

DEVON

Graham Macey is a Raku artist. The clay body of the piece is a specially formulated stoneware, designed to withstand the thermal shock it undergoes in the firing processes. After throwing or building the form, layers of liquid clay slip may be added for colour, some pieces are burnished prior to the first biscuit firing. Glaze effects are then applied after bisque to achieve the final result for the shape and balance I’m seeking. These often arise from how the form itself speaks to me. Raku is then fired to around 1000 degrees centigrade, removed from the kiln red hot, to be smoked in sawdust which achieves its distinctive and individual markings. Then work is cleaned & finally finished with microcrystalline wax.

“I work out of a small garden studio, using an electric & gas fired raku kiln. Raku provides a fantastic opportunity to further explore how flame and smoke affect my work. Each piece is totally unique due to the random crackle effects. My love of the sea, coast & patterns in nature or from different cultures inspire and inform my work. The contrast between crackle glaze and clay which has been affected by the smoke, provides the opportunity to use patterns which highlight these effects and compliment the form. I have also been producing collections of work that both happily exist together, or as single pieces.”

Excitingly Graham’s “mathematical knots” raku bottle has been accepted into the Isaac Newton Institute’s art collection in Cambridge. All the work is marked with Graham’s personal stamp and is guaranteed to be unique because of the process.