Raku is a dramatic ceramic technique that originated in Japan, and the raku effect is a striking feature of all Tony White's work. At the height of a glaze firing, when the glaze hasjust fluxed, the pot is removed, glowing and molten, from the kiln. On exposure to the cold air the glaze cracks, which causes the characteristic crazed surface. Next the pot is 'smoked' by covering with combustible material, such as sawdust or wood shavings. The material ignites on contact and the carbon that is produced darkens the crazing. Timing is crucial for the raku potter: as soon as the optimum effect has been achieved, the pot is plunged into cold water to prevent any further change. The process causes enormous shock to the clay body, and special clays, such as the 'T-material' used by Tony White, have been developed that can withstand it.

Tony White first encountered raku after he and his family moved to West Wales in 1983. At a weekend art event he helped to build a wood tired raku kiln out of house bricks. The results were mixed. Damp weather conditions added to the difficulty of the technique, and he decided that while raku could provide an entertaining spectacle, it was not suitable for production wares. At that time he and his wife Barbara had bottght a cottage near Tregaron and he was working in a converted barn next. He made domestic stoneware which was sold in craft shops and galleries all over Wales. He simply could not afford the indulgence of a technique which can often result in cracked pots.

The Whites had a lot to lose when they relocated to Wales from their home town of Hinkley in Leicestershire. On leaving school at fifteen, Tony had worked in a factory engineering machine parts for aircraft landing gear. Barbara worked in a hosiery factory. Tliey married in 1968. On Friday evenings Tony attended pottery classes at Hinkley College of Further Education. As he says, he 'took to pottery'. So much so that in 1979, after he was made redundant, his nextjob was as a technician at Hinkley College, where he taught ceramics himself one night a week. By this time, he had his own wheel and kiln at home and was selling work privately. The move to Wales was born of frustration. As a technician, lie was in a good position to acquire new skills and ideas, bot time constraints meant he rarely had the opportunity to apply them in his own work. Meanwhile he had become engrossed in a process of ceramic self-education. His reading included &rnard Leach's famous A Potter's Book, and he was a regular visitor to Leicester Museum, where the collection includes work by sttidio potters like Leach and Shoji Hamada, as well as examples of industrial wares. Mick Casson, and his 'The craft of the potter' series on television, was another very strong influence.

Technique has always been an important factor in Tony White's ceramics. He likes the challenge of new methods and different decorative effects, but he aims to control rather than be controlled. Perhaps his background in precision engineering is reflected in his approach. In 1986 he took anotherjob as a technician, this time in the University of Wales Art Department at Aberystwyth. There he was introduced to the modern ceramic fibre kilns and equipment which make raku a more viable option. Firing student work of all shapes and sizes meant that he became very experienced at manipulating the technique. His own education continued apace. The University collection of ceramics provided further stimulation, as did contact with visiting potters at Aberystwyth Arts Centre workshop sessions. David Roberts was one of these; the scale of his pieces with their wide expanse of raku surface particularly interested Tony White.