Strength - Raku Fired Ceramic & Hand Carved Wooden Brooch

Utterly striking black and white raku ceramic and hand carved wood brooch.

Raku is a wonderful, exhilarating process - but it isn’t gentle!

Sometimes pieces crack with the temperature shock - just as they did with this one. But I loved the patterns created so much I didn’t want to waste it. So I hand carved a wooden mount, carefully drilled both ceramic and wood with my dremel and stitched them together with wire. I finished the surface of the ceramic with a museum grade microcrystalline wax.

When I first carved the wood (a piece of line from my parents’ farm) I felt it was too light in colour - so made it darker with my pyrography pen and then a gas flame before burnishing it.

The brooch has a pin fastening and protective felt on the back.

I love this piece so much - a reminder that after being damaged things can become strong and beautiful, wearing the marks of their story with pride.

Approximate dimensions: 60mm x 31mm