An artist who fell in love with raku-fired ceramics more than three decades ago has hidden pieces of his work throughout the Island for people to take home.
said he was first introduced to raku pottery while attending a British Columbia Art TeachersB次元官网网址� Association workshop in 1989.
B次元官网网址淚 saw that, and it was just absolutely stunning,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淎nd I thought B次元官网网址業 have to figure out how to do this.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
Raku-firing, said Oldfield, of Powell River, is when the ceramic is heated to approximately 982 C, then quickly sealed in an air-tight combustion chamber with combustibles.
The combustibles then ignite and burn off whatever oxygen remains. This step oxidizes the glaze of the pottery, and gives it a metallic, vibrant finish.
The colour of the finish is determined by the minerals in the glaze, the temperature of the clay piece, the type of humidity of the combustibles and how fast the oxygen burns off.
Raku-firing is OldfieldB次元官网网址檚 preferred method since he now finds the normal ceramic firing process turns the colours flat and predictable in comparison.
B次元官网网址淲hen working with raku, the magic is by the end of the day I donB次元官网网址檛 know what IB次元官网网址檓 going to get,B次元官网网址� he said.
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To show his love for the process, Oldfield has an ongoing art project where he creates raku sea stars and hides them on public beaches on Vancouver Island, Powell River and the Lower Mainland.
On the bottom of each sea star, he sketches his websiteB次元官网网址檚 address, , so people can contact him once they have found his work in the wild.
The project first started years ago, Oldfield said, at a year-end beach party for his Grade 7 class.
Wanting to give each student a unique parting gift, he thought to create raku sea stars and hide them among driftwood and sand for the youngsters to find.
Since he wanted to make sure everyone found a piece, he created more ceramics than there were students, leaving several sea stars undiscovered.
The beginning of the project truly started that summer when strangers reached out to him once they had found an unclaimed sea star.
To this day, Oldfield said he keeps the project going as a fun way to put his work into the world for people to enjoy.
B次元官网网址淪ometimes months will go by before someone emails me. And then sometimes, IB次元官网网址檒l get multiple emails a week!B次元官网网址�
Since July 1, however, Oldfield has started a similar new project involving orange maple leafs instead of sea stars.
He calls it his B次元官网网址�215 Project,B次元官网网址� where each maple leaf commemorates and honours the remains of the 215 Indigenous children uncovered earlier this year at a former B.C. residential school in Kamloops.
He anticipates the project will take a year to complete, both to create all 215 leaves and to hide them along beaches and hiking trails on Vancouver Island and in Powell River.
OldfieldB次元官网网址檚 work is currently on display at the Qualicum Art Supply and Gallery, as well as at galleries in Oak Bay, Duncan, Bowser and Tofino.
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