The Clay Hole 2026
Raku Pottery Workshop
Nighttime Edition
Spots are very limited, first come first serve. You must have your pieces bisque-fired and glazed before the workshop. Read below for all the info.
$150
Raku is the ultimate experience for any potter and nighttime raku takes the experience to a whole new level
Alpine, Utah | Spots are Limited | For Current & Past Clay Hole Members
This year, you’re invited to experience the ultimate thrill in pottery. A nighttime raku workshop will be held at the property of Dan's parents (in Alpine) this year, where we’ll turn flame, smoke, and chaos into absolute ceramic beauty in the darkness of night. Spots are extremely limited. It’s hands-on. It’s high-stakes. It's exciting. It’s one of the most rewarding processes a potter can experience.
TIME & DATE
ONE NIGHT WORKSHOP ONLY:
Friday, August 21st (7:45 PM)
Be on time & stay to the end, which will probably be around 2AM-3AM
Since our raku workshops always sell out, there are no refunds or reschedules if you can't make it, so only reserve a spot if you know will work for you and that you'll have time to get your raku projects ready! Remember, you'll need to have your pieces created, dried, bisqued, and glazed before the workshop.
🔥 What Raku Is (And Why It’s Magic)
Raku isn’t just a firing technique... It’s an event. A ritual. A dance with heat, adrenaline, smoke, and flame.
In this workshop, we’ll use propane-fired kilns to superheat pots until they glow red-hot, then pull them directly from the fire using long tongs. The pots are then dropped into combustible materials—usually sawdust, newspaper, or other organic matter - where they ignite instantly, shrouding the pottery in flame and smoke.
Within seconds, glazes flash. Carbon traps. Metallics bloom. And the unpredictable becomes art. No other method in ceramics produces effects like raku. You’ll see copper glazes shift to oil-slick greens and reds. You’ll witness turquoise halos next to smoky black crackles. Some surfaces turn to silver or iridescent steel. Others trap smoke in the finest of cracks, creating veining that looks like something unearthed from ancient ruins.
It’s surface magic - born of chaos and chemistry - and the beauty is impossible to replicate through any other firing style.
🌝 What makes nighttime raku so special?
When you open a kiln at almost 2000 degrees at night...
The whole world disappears except for the glow and except for the fire.
In the daytime, raku is already wild and beautiful, but at night it becomes something else entirely. The glowing pots look like they were pulled straight out of a volcano. The kiln being opened lights up the faces of everyone standing around it. The flames of our reduction cans feel bigger, brighter, and more alive. Every crackle, every spark, every burst of smoke feels a little more intense because the darkness makes the whole process impossible to ignore.
Nighttime raku has this rare, almost primal kind of magic to it. You’re standing there with your studio friends in the making, watching red-hot pottery move from fire to smoke to water, and it feels less like a class and more like a memory being burned into your brain. It’s dramatic, unpredictable, a little chaotic, and ridiculously beautiful. Daytime raku is awesome. Nighttime raku is unforgettable.
💥 Adrenaline Meets Community
There’s no waiting for days to see the results.
In raku, you get to hold your finished work as soon as the process is done. It's a process that demands focus, speed, and courage. And when you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with other potters in the heat, cheering each other on as pots emerge from the flames, it becomes more than a firing. It becomes connection.
These workshops are designed to deepen that community. We work together. We fire together. We eat, we clean, and we share the joy (and heartbreak) of what comes out of the kiln together. No two pots come out alike. No two experiences are the same. And something about going through it side-by-side—out in an empty farm pasture—brings us closer as artists and friends.
🛠️ Workshop Details
ARRIVE: Meet at the property a few minutes early. Workshop runs 6 to 8 hours, depending on firing rhythm and some factors that can't be predicted. Do not come late because we cannot get started until everyone is present. All participants must be there for the entire workshop.
LOCATION: The workshop is happening on the property of Dan's parents in Alpine, Utah. (Exact address will be provided via text before the workshop.)
Any participant who is more than 10 minutes late will not be allowed to participate and no refunds will be given. Raku can be dangerous, and so we have a crucial safety meeting to start the day. Simply put, if you miss any part of the safety meeting, you won't be able to participate so that you and everyone else in the group can remain safe.
🏺 Prepping Your Pots
👆 Get started building your raku pieces well in advance!
All pots must be:
- Previously bisque-fired
- Glazed with raku-specific glazes (which we provide at The Clay Hole - please note some raku glazes are much more expensive and will require an up-charge, $15 max, though most are included
- Made using B-Mix with Grog clay or Berlin Gray clay. This is important because the grog in these clays help avoid thermal shock and cracking.
You may bring with you:
- Up to 4 tall, skinny pieces to raku, or
- Up to 2 wider pieces
- Total combined width of all pieces must not exceed 28 inches
You may use your regular class times to glaze your raku, or take one additional day at The Clay Hole (on top of your regular membership).
🫠 Dipping Glazes Will Be Available!
These beauties should be here mid-July, which means they’ll be ready to play with by the time we fire things up.
We’ve got eight brand new Laguna raku dipping glazes on the way, and everyone in the workshop will be welcome to use them. If you’ve never dipped raku pieces before, you’re in for a treat. It’s fast, it’s satisfying, and it gives you that glorious “oh heck yes” feeling the second your piece comes out coated and ready for fire.
These glazes are being chosen specifically for raku, which means they’re built for all that gorgeous chaos we love so much: metallic flashes, smoky surprises, crackle magic, and the kind of unpredictable finishes that make raku feel like pottery’s wild cousin who definitely owns a leather jacket.
And, of course, if you’d rather stick with brush-on glazes, you absolutely can. Members are always welcome to use our dozens of brush-on raku glazes too, so whether you want to dip, brush, layer, experiment, or go full mad scientist, you’ll have lots of ways to make your pieces awesome. Here's what we've got coming:
Don't have your pots bisqued in time?
Or maybe you just wannna purchase a beautiful raku vessel without learning the wheel!
Either way, you may purchase high-quality, wheel-thrown bisqued pieces from The Clay Hole. Prices range from $30–$250. Members who want to purchase pre-made vessels will choose in the order they ask Dan for them. Let Dan know if you want to purchase any pots for raku and he will give you pricing. Here is an example of the types of pots you'll be able to purchase:
🧯 Safety + Participation
👆 Let's keep everyone safe!
Raku can be dangerous, and we take the safety of our members seriously. Since there will be several people unloading pottery at the same time, and since the temperature inside the kiln reaches as high as 1920 degrees, every unload of the kiln is fully coreographed and practiced before we even close the kiln. We haven't had any injuries yet, and we plan to keep it that way!
- All participants must sign a raku liability waiver and follow safety protocols.
- Wear the proper attire: full-length jeans, closed-toed shoes, and long sleeves. If you have long hair, make sure it is securely fastened.
- All required safety gear is provided by Dan.
- Only current or past members of The Clay Hole may attend.
- Each person may place one pot per firing.
- Full-day attendance is required.
- Everyone must help with cleanup at the end of the workshop.
- In the summertime, wear sunscreen and use the provided misters to stay cool.
- Absolutely no horse play, practical jokes, or safety joking permitted.
🍕 Food + Drinks
You're gonna want some late night snacks...
- Bring your own meal and drinks. Or...
- You may choose to pitch in for a group late night order.
- Bring a cooler if you want to keep your food or bevereages cold.
⚠️ Final Notes
A few more things worth noting...
- Only 18 spots available per workshop. It used to be 10, but we got another raku kiln so that we can have bigger groups and alternate the firings inside of them.
- There must be at least seven registered participants to run the workshop. If less than seven people register, you will have your choice between a refund or a spot at the next available raku workshop.
- First come, first serve for registrations. No exceptions.
- No guarantees with raku: Pots may crack, glazes may shift or look completely different than what you're expecting. The beauty is in the unpredictability.
- Once you've booked your reservation, there are no refunds for any reason. Feel free to sell your spot to someone else in class (for the same cost or less) that you paid for it.