Robert Hasselle

Robert Hasselle is best known for his horsehair raku glaze and ash glaze work. Drawing on several sources, both prehistoric and contemporary, Hasselle has developed a fine art line of raku pottery. The artful application of horsehair and ferric chloride to the surface of the hot pots gives each one a richness of surface and a unique look.

Ash glaze, besides being a return to the source, is a very rich process. Although it resembles wood firing and salt glazing in the lively surfaces it creates, it allows for a full range of color not really possible in the other two processes. Ash glazing is the first form of glazing ever developed. In the early Chinese kilns, wood fired pottery collected ash deposits, providing interesting textures and colors, and eventually giving rise to the process of glazing.