Paprika Luster Group Pamela Summers uses the ancient Japanese firing process of Raku in creating vessels with pure form and Caribbean Sea colored crackle glazes as their predominant features. Raku is a firing process developed in 16th century Japan for the Japanese tea ceremony. The pieces are glazed, dried and put directly into a very hot kiln where they remain until the glazes have melted at a temperature of 1820 F. Pam then removes the piece from the kiln with long tongs and puts it into a nest of natural grasses and covers it creating a rich reduction atmosphere. The pieces are then quickly quenched with water. This produces her wonderful lustrous crackle glazes. GO BACK