April 10 - 12, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Join us for our Microwave Raku Workshop, hosted by Denise Young, owner of Happy Turtle Kiln Arts in Flower Mound, Texas.

During this 3-day workshop, students will go from wet clay to vitrified Cone 5 porcelain work that is then fired in the Microwave Kiln and finished in Raku, Obvara, and Horse Hair techniques. They will leave with 3-6 completely finished projects, and the knowledge and experience to do Microwave Raku firings on their own!

Students will be provided with a handout and access to a supply kit. Denise will discuss what types of work are best suited to be fired in the microwave, how to use wire and work with jewelry pliers, clay types appropriate for the microwave kiln, and how to use heat guns to successfully fast dry clay. She will discuss the different types of firings the workshop will cover (Raku, Obvara, and Horse Hair) and show examples of each. Students will then make the items they will be firing during the workshop. Lastly, the workshop will cover the types of glaze that can be used, how to apply glaze for Raku, and how to get glaze to adhere on fully vitrified work.

Denise’s supply kits include:

• 1,000 Watt Microwave

• Microwave Kiln

• Gloves

• 2 Types of Tongs

• 4 Kiln Bricks

• 3 of small sized 1/2" Kiln Posts

• 25 Kiln Paper sheets

• 1 Reduction Chamber

If you would like to purchase your own kit to take home, they are $225 each and are available for pre-sale purchase upon registration.

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Denise will provide all other materials, equipment, clay, and tools. Each student will receive a full multi page handout with lots of information and recipes, as well as a supply packet that includes all wire and jewelry components needed plus any other necessary supplies.
Horse hair has been copiously supplied by my her brother-in-law’s horses that needed a trim, and feathers have been ethically collected by Running Bug Farms. Glaze has generously been provided by Penguin Pottery Supplies. 

Students can bring the following supplies if they have/want them:

• Scissors

• X-Acto type knife

• Texture tools that they might want to use 

• Newspapers, wood shavings, dry straw or pine needles (anything that burns easily)

• Small cookie cutters

• Small sponges

• Paintbrushes for glazing (I will have some available too)

• Heat gun (I have 8, and they are welcome to share)

• Clay knife 

• Any hand clay tools that they might want

Ability and experience levels of students can vary from never having touched clay before to expert professional and anywhere in between. Denise has worked with teenagers and adults of all ages, and one of her best students last year had never touched clay in her life!

A lunch option is available for and additional $15 for those interested and is due on the first day of the workshop. Please check the box to opt in during registration.

ABOUT DENISE

Denise Muckleroy Young discovered clay in her late-thirties, during somewhat of an existential crisis. As a busy mom of kids with special needs, she spent much of her time advocating through school meetings and volunteer work. Feeling burnt out and needing a purpose of her own, she signed up for a Ceramics class. Working in clay, she found her voice and a community where she thrived and felt valued for herself.

She continued her non-traditional education for the past 16 years, collecting a myriad of skills and ceramic knowledge, and continues to learn every day. She has attended workshops all over the USA to enhance her development as a ceramicist. Alternative firings and Glaze Chemistry are her favorite areas of study, but she is most interested in doing experimental work with both ceramic and non-ceramic materials.

She enjoys mentoring and presenting demonstrations in many techniques. She also loves throwing, sculpting, and hand-building in her home studio, pulling Raku on her driveway, and making ridiculously tiny earrings. A lifelong Texan, she lives with her family and mini-herd of cats in the suburbs of Dallas/Ft Worth.