We are delighted to bring you the raku ceramics of Janesville, Wisconsin artist John Wrenn. His work includes traditional vases and lidded jars as well as wonderful ikebana vases for traditional Japanese flower arranging (or non-traditional flower lovers of all kinds!) His work starts with a masterful sense of wheel-thrown form, which he then subjects to copper flash-firing. This is accomplished in the following way: the wheel-thrown pots are bisque-fired to harden the clay. Then they are prepared for the second, most important firing.The pots are covered with copper matte glaze and returned to the kiln. When they have reached the proper temperature,Wrenn uses tongs to remove the pots, immediately thrusting them into a container filled with combustible materials such as sawdust or shredded paper. The materials ignite, causing flames to lick up against the pots as they react with the glaze, producing colors that are nearly impossible to achieve with standard glazes. The process ends by putting a lid over the container at the proper time to extinguish the flames. No two pieces are ever alike!

The origins of Ikebana are six centuries old and still exist today as perhaps the most practiced of Japanese traditional arts. "An ikebana arrangement usually incorporates the foliage and flowers of the season used in their natural state, but perfected by the skills of the arranger," explains Wrenn. "Its most traditional form follows a fixed pattern - a triangle of three points representing Heaven, Man & Earth, and can encompass nature in all its dimensions, from a blade of grass to an entire branch of plum blossoms." Raku pots are fired at lower temperatures than stoneware or porcelain pots and thus are not water-tight. For this reason, Ikebana vases come with standard metal inserts that are filled with water.