Illustration of a potter in welding gloves laying a feather on a hot white pot, finished horsehair raku vases beside her
Raku at The Clay Hole

How our horsehair and feather raku workshops actually run

Hair, feathers and sugar laid on a hot, polished pot, each one burning its own black mark into the clay. This is how a horsehair day works at The Clay Hole, what your pots need before you come, and what to bring. The full technique, with videos, lives in the University.

See the 2027 datesRead the technique lesson
The short version
  • Two in 2027Saturday, June 26 and Saturday, October 16.
  • 10 AM to about 1 to 3 PMGates 9:45 AM. Safety meeting 10 AM sharp.
  • Alpine, UtahDan’s parents’ property, same as every raku day.
  • $175 a spotNot included in membership. Covers the terra sigillata and the materials.
  • 20 spots eachCurrent or past members, 18 and up.
What it is

No glaze. The pot draws on itself.

A strand of hair is mostly carbon. A very hot, very dry, polished pot is very good at grabbing carbon and never letting go. Lay the hair on, it sizzles and curls, and the pot locks a black line into its own surface as it cools.

Feathers leave a soft, fern-shaped silhouette. Sugar leaves small black dots. Every pot comes out different, and none of it can be drawn on purpose.

A horsehair pot is decorative. No glaze, an open body and a decoration made of carbon, so it is not food safe and it does not hold water. It holds dried flowers, or nothing at all.

A potter presses a striped feather against a smoking bowl on a can top, leaving a fern-shaped mark
How ours runs

A different kind of raku day

Same barn in Alpine, same kilns, same safety meeting as every raku day. Almost everything after that changes, and the day moves faster because of it.

A cooler firing

Horsehair does not need the heat of a glaze firing, so pots come out sooner and the day runs faster.

Cans as tables

The galvanized cans get flipped upside down. Your hot pot sits on top of one while you work, at a height you can reach from every side.

Gloves or giant tweezers

Everything goes on by hand in welding gloves, or with a pair of giant tweezers for the fine work.

No combustibles, no lid

Nothing goes into a can and nothing gets smothered. The pot cools in the open air where it sits.

No scrubbing

There is no glaze to clean, so what you see on the can is what you take home.

$175 a spot

The extra over a glaze raku day covers the terra sigillata, the horse hair and the pricier materials a horsehair day goes through.

Your pots, before the day

The surface is decided weeks before the fire

Every piece has to be made, coated in terra sigillata at bone dry, burnished and bisque fired before the workshop. Registrants use the terra sigillata at the studio during their regular sessions. Tap a card to see why each one matters.

The surface rules

  • Terra sigillata, burnished, then bisqued. Coat at bone dry, burnish, and send it through the studio bisque. Your pots arrive with all three done.
  • No glaze anywhere on it. Not a drip, not a rim, not the inside. The whole technique depends on bare, polished clay.
  • Same size limits as every raku day. Up to four tall, skinny pieces, or up to two wider pieces, with a combined width under 28 inches. Usually one pot per person per firing.
  • Use your regular sessions. Coating and burnishing happen during your normal class times or open studio, or on one extra studio day on top of your membership.
What goes on the pot

The feathers and hair are on us

We bring a huge assortment of feathers, including turkey, pheasant, duck, rooster and dozens of other birds from around the world. Plenty of horse hair too, in medium and heavy coarseness, and sugar. Ostrich, peacock and other large feathers are not supplied. Bring those if you want them, along with anything else you want to try.

Horse hair, heavy and medium

Heavy hair burns thick, dark lines with a strong curl and a gray smoke halo beside them. Medium hair draws a finer line. Both are supplied, and both make for a satisfying first pot.

Mane and finer hair

Finer, wispier lines. Lighter, so it drifts in a breeze. Lovely mixed in with tail hair.

Feathers

A soft branching silhouette, like a fern pressed into the clay. Needs a hot pot and firm contact.

Sugar

Small round black dots wherever the grains land. Goes on last, because it bounces.

We supply

  • A huge assortment of feathers: turkey, pheasant, duck, rooster and dozens of other birds from around the world
  • Plenty of horse hair, in medium and heavy coarseness
  • Sugar

Bring your own

  • Ostrich, peacock and other large feathers, which we do not supply
  • Any other animal hair you want to try
  • Syrup, and string soaked in syrup
  • Yarn
  • String soaked in shoe polish
  • Polyester thread
  • Anything else dry and carbon-based you want to try

Ferric chloride

Ferric chloride gives rust oranges and browns. We do not supply it. Bring your own if you want it, and keep it in its own container and in gloved hands.

How the day goes

Here is your whole morning, start to finish

Drag the slider and watch the sky do what it is going to do. June runs hot, with the misters on all day. October runs crisp in the morning and mild by lunch.

9:45 AM · Gates open

Park, unload, lay out your materials

Get your pots out of the car and claim a spot near the cans. Sort your hair into small loose bundles and lay your feathers out flat. Once a pot comes out of the kiln, there is no time to untangle anything.

Moment 1 of 8

The start time is real. The rest is not a schedule. Raku takes exactly as long as raku takes, and nobody leaves until the last pot is out and the site is clean, because whoever lands in the final round deserves the same crowd the first round got.

A potter sprinkles sugar from a small bowl over a hot pot, the grains smoking where they land
After the fire

Seal it at home

The pot leaves the barn finished, but bare. Most people seal it for a richer look and a little protection from fingerprints and dust.

We do not supply sealer. We recommend Renaissance Wax, Trewax with Carnauba, Mink Oil, or a clear acrylic spray like Krylon.

Even sealed, a horsehair pot stays decorative. It is not food safe and it does not hold water.

What a horsehair day looks like

Tap any picture to see it bigger.

The 2027 horsehair workshops

Two Saturdays, twenty spots each

$175 a spot, not included in membership, open to current and past members. Register on the workshop page; every rule, the address and the full packing list are there too.

Prefer glaze raku? There are two daytime raku days and two nighttime raku nights on the 2027 calendar.

Safety

Everybody goes home with all their skin

The kiln still runs well over a thousand degrees, and hot pots move between people. That is the part of this nobody jokes about.

Every unload is choreographed and walked through before the lid ever closes: where you stand, where your hands go, who moves first. We have not had an injury at one of these, and the reason is that everyone out there runs the same play. That is why the safety meeting is not optional, and why anybody who misses it cannot participate. Everybody sits through at least one in person, first-timers without exception.

  • Sign the waiver before you come. Every participant, every workshop, even your fourth one. It is checked at the gate.
  • Dress for it. Long pants and closed-toe shoes are required. Long sleeves are strongly recommended. Long hair tied back. Natural fibers like cotton, denim and wool, because synthetics melt.
  • No horseplay, no practical jokes, no joking about safety. Not once, not as a bit.
  • Nobody participates under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, or anything else that changes your balance or judgment.
  • Stay for the whole thing and help clean up. Both are part of the price of admission.
Sign the raku waiverGet certified for raku

The online raku certification

It is the safety meeting on your couch, with a short quiz at the end. Optional, and recommended. Once you have also sat through a meeting in person, being certified means you can help set up during the next one instead of hearing it again, so the first pots go in the minute the meeting ends. You still arrive on time, you still sign the waiver, and you still do exactly what you are told near the kilns. Take the raku certification.

Questions

What people ask about horsehair days

Is this included in my membership?

No. Raku workshops are optional and cost extra. A horsehair spot is $175. Your membership still covers the studio time you use to coat, burnish and bisque your pots.

Do I need to have done raku before?

No. Everybody sits through the safety meeting in person, and it covers everything you need near the kilns. The online raku certification is a good way to know what is coming.

Can I use glaze on part of the pot?

No. Glaze is the one thing that stops the marks from taking. Bring bare, polished, bisqued pots.

Where do I get terra sigillata?

At the studio. Once you are registered, use it during your regular sessions, then send the pot through the normal bisque.

Do I need to bring my own hair and feathers?

No. We bring a huge assortment of feathers, including turkey, pheasant, duck, rooster and dozens of other birds from around the world, plus plenty of horse hair in medium and heavy coarseness, and sugar. Ostrich, peacock and other large feathers are not supplied. Bring those if you want them, or other animal hair, syrup, yarn, string soaked in shoe polish or polyester thread.

Is a horsehair pot food safe?

No. It is decorative only, and it does not hold water, sealed or not.

Can I get a refund?

No refunds for any reason, and no switching to a future workshop. You can sell your spot to another current or past member for what you paid or less. Tell Dan at class who is taking it.

What if I am late?

Arrive after 10:10 and you cannot participate, and there is no refund. Gates open at 9:45 for exactly this reason.

Every workshop policy, from weather to spectators, is on each workshop page. Read them on the June 26 page.

Also in 2027

The rest of the year at The Clay Hole

See the whole 2027 calendar

June 26 and October 16

Forty spots across the whole year

Twenty on each Saturday. Pick one, register, and start coating pots.

Register for June 26Register for October 16