Raku Polar Bear

I sculpted this polar bear from a heavily grogged raku clay, designed to stand up to the thermal shock of the firing process known as North American Raku. 
 
What is North American Raku?
This firing process is wild. After an initial bisque firing in a standard electric kiln, we fire the glazed pieces again to 1840 degrees Fahrenheit, and remove them directly from the kiln --glowing hot-- with tongs to place them into a nest of paper combustibles inside a sealed metal chamber.  The pieces are then cold shocked to further develop the colours and textures.
 
Raku is usually more expensive than traditionally glazed ceramics because of the high likelyhood of thermal shock and cracking. Many pieces are lost to this process, making the resulting gems that we pull from the literal ashes all the more special, and completely one of a kind.