On a beautiful Saturday morning, I drove to Milford, Pennsylvania to fire RAKU. The town of Milford is very quaint and pretty and not very far from New York City. The weather was perfect, sunny and cool.

Once our group gathered and had our coffee and breakfast to sustain us, we began preparing and glazing our pieces to get them ready. There were six of us firing together, helping each other. It is definitely more fun this way! We also had to be very careful since we had to get really close to heat and fire. We wore goggles, leather aprons, long gloves and hats. Safety first!

During the two days of firing, we had many curious visitors - rabbits, bees and even a deer, wondering what we were doing. Between the firings, we also took time for scrumptious potluck lunches.

I had a such wonderful experience this weekend, in the company of great people and artists. We worked together and had so much fun. After two days of firing, we all had dirt under our fingernails and smoke in our pores. Tired and happy. Until next time!

- Katie Yang