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Candone Wharton's fine crafted, handbuilt vessels are uniquely carved with basket weave and block print designs. She is best known for her intricate work, fine luster glazes and her development of a technique that produces a metallic-like gold luster. Using Raku techniques, it is this striking combination of exciting surfaces that she intermixes that creates the mystery. When viewing her work you are transformed to a timeless place with its own language. Her surfaces speak in this language, transmitting the effect of the influence of African potters and her love for this media.Handbuilding TechniqueCandone creates each piece from slabs and coils that have been flattened and carved. She uses a variety of carving and texturing tools, such as a saw edged tool to create a basket weave texture. Often she uses antique wooden block prints to achieve decorative textures. Once textured, these flattened coils are added on to a slab base, then set to dry several hours before adding another coil. Once the piece is complete and dry, it is sanded and bisque fired. | |
Glazing Process
Candone's glazes are based on the old
Morrocan lusters. Her first experiments with glazing began in Ibiza, Spain where she came upon some old luster glaze recipes
and
modified
them for Raku. Candone uses a transparent glossy glaze, adding copper, cobalt, silver nitrate and bismuth
to create a palate of beautiful lusters.
The gold rim which is very typical of her work, is a silver nitrate glaze, heavily reduced.
The bright red crackle glaze shown
in this bowl is Candone's most recent addition to her palate of rich colors.
Raku Firing
Raku is the Japanese firing technique
that was used in the tea ceremony. Tea bowls were made, fired and used in the same ceremony due to the rapid firing
process. The technique I use is similar, with a few alterations in the firing cycle. After
the work is handbuilt and dried, it is bisqued fired to cone 06. The pieces are then glazed and set to dry for several
days before the Raku firing is done. With the red glaze, I do a preliminary glaze firing in the electric kiln,
reglaze the piece with the gold and whites and then fire it in a gas Raku kiln. I place the glazed pieces
in a red hot Raku kiln (gas with heavy reduction), the glaze matures in approximately 20 minutes and I remove the pieces and
place them in sawdust for a post firing reduction.