Jim Romberg

Jim Romberg is an artist and instructor who has been creating, exhibiting and writing about raku ceramics for more than 30 years. Jim studied ancient and medieval history, religion, and philosophy before going on to complete his M.F.A. at the Claremont Graduate School, where he worked with Paul Soldner. Since then he has been an instructor at Southern Oregon University, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities, the University of Texas, and Anderson Ranch Art Center. He is currently an Artist in Residence at the Eagleheart Center for Art and Inquiry in New Mexico.

Jim's work has been exhibited in galleries across the U.S., in Canada, and in Europe, and is included in a large number of permanent collections including the Boise Museum of Art (Boise, ID); Marer Collection of American Ceramics, Scripps College (Claremont, CA); Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ); and the City of Geneva Municipal Collection (Geneva, Switzerland).

Jim is particularly passionate about the importance of writing about contemporary craft, and was a speaker ot the SOFA Chicago 2006 Lecture Series entitled "Critical Writing on Craft - Who Benefits?" and was the moderator of a panel at the March 2006 NCECA conference entitled "Towards a New Criticism."

What exactly is raku?
Because The Grand Hand is particularly know for functional ceramics, we thought that a word or two here would be appropriate. Raku is a technique used in firing ceramics that originated in Japan in the 16th century. It is a "low-fire" technique in which fire and smoke work to create dramatic colors and unique patterns on the surface of the clay. Because it is fired at lower temperatures, in several phases, and for shorter periods than in "high fire" techniques, raku ceramics are generally not functional.

What makes work created through this process fascinating is the way in which the sculptural form created by the artist's hands, and the glazes used, combine with the spontaneous and sometimes literally explosive effects of fire and smoke to create pieces that are absolutely unique and can never be duplicated. Each piece is the result of a specific moment in time, where human creativity and natural forces come together to create something unpredictable and beautiful.

For those who must have the details, there are many variations of the raku technique, but it generally involves the following steps. The pottery is first bisque fired, then glazed and fired in a raku kiln at temperatures of about 1800°F (about 982°C). It is then removed from the kiln while it is still hot and glowing, and placed inside a metal can full of combustible materials. The heat emitted from the raku pottery causes these materials to catch on fire. After the materials inside the metal can catch on fire, the pottery is sealed inside. As the fire consumes the oxygen within the can, it also draws the oxygen out of the pottery and its glaze. This process is called post fire reduction. It is the post fire reduction stage that creates the unique look of raku pottery. The resulting patterns and colors are unpredictable, as they are created through the natural process of oxygen removal.