Behind the Scenes at The Freaky Raku Ceramics
Getting a glimpse behind the scenes always gets me giddy with excitement, sometimes more so than seeing the final product! Last week I shared a tour of the olive harvesting process, and today I’m so excited to share the fascinating process of raku ceramics with our dear friends Zaira and Francesco of The Freaky Raku. Have you seen their ceramics? I’ve used them pretty frequently – like in this kimchi fried rice and honeynut squash congee.
Raku ceramics are a unique type of ceramics – with origins in Japan, raku ceramics are more about the process than the product, and incredibly, you can see the process written lovingly in its texture. You can read more about Zaira and Francesco’s philosophy on wabisabi, art, and imperfection here.
I was lucky enough to witness their ceramics being made. It was mid July, and sweltering hot, and for some reason, the mosquitos in Italy just LOVE me. I wore long leggings and long sleeved shirts, but they still found a way to my blood. As I took these photos, I swear I sprouted like five extra bites. But it was worth it – I had no idea that this was how these beautiful ceramics were made! After being fired, the just-out-of-the-kiln pottery are cooled in vats of dried leaves or dried newspaper, and that cooling process gives raku pottery its signature aged look. You can never know for sure what pattern will manifest itself, and that’s the beauty of raku firing – giving the process to nature, letting it choose its own direction and dictate the final appearance of the pottery. I love it.
Meticulous notes of glaze experiments and successes and failures of the past. 
Zaira and Francesco showed me in their studio, showing me what they could control before leaving it to the elements. The glaze they mix, the shape – did you know that their gorgeous matte glaze with the blue splatters are actually from pieces of glass in the glaze?!
To see more of their work, follow them on Instagram and see their shop !! Also, I’ll be hosting A GIVEAWAY of one of their pieces over on Instagram later this week, so be sure you keep your eyes peeled for that :).
What a lovely post. You really captured the process!
Stunning pictures and story. And I wish I could have join you guys at Valentina’s but I realized a bit late. I found Zaïra through her beautiful Photography on Instagram, still didn’t met her though. But hope to visit freaky raku sometime soon. Thanks for sharing your lovely stories with us. x
Ohhhhhhhh!!!!!!
Oh my goodness, SO COOL! Goodnesssssssss! What a great story.
Thank you for sharing this beautiful story. Making this type of ceramics is such a wonderful hands-on process. Love it. x Kati
Raku !!!,oggi mi sono resa conto di come lo si realizza ! Grazie Zaira e Francesco . Che procedimento fantastico !!! Sono contenta , anche oggi non ho vissuto invano !
Ciao Zaira e Francesco
This is amazing!! I’m completely in love with everything about this, what incredibly beautiful pieces! xx
I have been following Zaira for a long time. It is so good to see them in action, creating beautiful ceramics.
This is amazing, I’ve never seen images like this it’s so great to see how the process works.
Such fantastic pictures Betty.
Your photography always inspires me! Also, these cermamics are STUNNING!
What an inspiring post. You have done an incredible job of sharing these people’s journey through creating beautiful ceramics.
As always, your photos and editing take my breath away. ❤️
These photos are STUNNING!! You captured the essence of their work so well! Happy I could be there and witness the behind-the scenes of this post live <3
Beautiful story Betty! Zaira and Francesco’s work takes on even more beauty after getting a glimpse of their Raku process1
Very NICE!! I love your work and style of photography!!