If the word raku makes you scratch your head, you are not alone. The relatively obscure art form is not something you see everyday, but those in attendance for the first ever ARTmore event Saturday in downtown Atmore will get a chance to view the process first hand.

ARTmore coordinator James Amerson said the process is unique and artist Ben Twingley said he is excited to bring the work to ARTmore.

“Essentially raku is a Japanese-style technique for firing pottery,” Twingley said.

Twingley said the process differs from traditional pottery firing in several ways, including the use of fuel.

“What we do today is take a piece of pottery that has been fired one time, we glaze it, put it in a raku kiln, which is fired by propane or natural gas, and we bring the temp up real fast.”

Twingley said the rapid heating of the pottery, from around 0 to 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, causes a drastic speeding up of the firing process.

“When the glazes mature and melt, we pull them out and they are red-hot,” he said. “We put them in combustion chambers, which are essentially trash cans or metal cans with leaves or paper in them. We put the lid on the can and all that smoke and smoldering is carbon and it gets sucked into the pot and it absorbs it.”

Twingley said after about a 15 to 20-minute waiting period, the pottery is complete. He said the fast turn around time makes the process perfect for events like ARTmore.

“Other kinds of firing you have to wait much longer for the pottery,” he said. “For this, after a few minutes, you open it up and it’s kind of like Christmas. I joke a lot and say this is a spectator’s sport, because you can see the effects immediately after the firing process.”

Twingley will be in Atmore Saturday where ARTmore patrons can get in on the raku process. He will also be holding classes on the raku process at the First City Art Center in Pensacola Saturday, June 8 from 9 a.m. until noon. For information on how to become involved, call (850) 429-1222 or visit www.firstcityart.org.