A raku-firing fundraiser will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10, at the Bay School Community Arts Center on Main Street in Mathews.

Completed pots

Raku is a ceramic firing process that produces flashy, metallic-looking pottery in a short amount of time. Ready-to-glaze pots made by member of Clay by the Bay Ceramics Guild will be provided to participants. Ticket-holders will select a pot, glaze it with assistance from a volunteer potter, and watch as the pot is fired by Martha Hayes of Summer Haze Pottery.

Two raku kilns will be used. They are both homemade—one made from a galvanized trash can and the other from a steel barrel—and are lined with ceramic fire blankets. The kilns are propane-fueled and will reach a firing temperature of 1,850 degrees Fahrenheit in 30 to 40 minutes.

After firing, the pots are pulled from the kiln red-hot, using long tongs, and are placed in a reduction chamber, which is a metal bucket lined with newspaper. When the hot ...