Hannah Miller

Raku Fired Vase | Ceramic 2023

I started pottery in 2019 as a fun activity to participate in with my mom and sisters. We started as beginners hand building and making pinch pots. My sister and I eventually decided to try out throwing on the potter’s wheel. It took us a full 8 weeks and then some to make 5, 8-inch cylinders on the wheel (which was a requirement by our instructor before we would be allowed to fire any of our pieces.) We underestimated how difficult it would be. However, after lots of practice we have finally graduated to making larger pieces with more creative shapes and glazes. This piece is a wheel thrown, hollow donut shaped vase that was hand carved and then bisque fired. The piece was then glazed using white crackle raku glaze and fired using the alternative firing method of Raku. It was heated up to roughly 1800 degrees Fahrenheit in an outdoor kiln where it was then carefully moved to a sealed containers tightly wrapped in newspaper. The piece was left to sit in the container to allow the carbon to seep into the cracks of the glaze and create the dark black crackling.

Hannah is a staff member of the Pharmacy Department