Dennis Sanborn has spent his life promoting the visual arts. His career choice as an art instructor in public schools spanned over thirty years. Upon retiring from the Oelwein Community Schools in 2004, Sanborn became a full-time practicing artist. This artist works in many media, but his passion is clay. His pieces are hand thrown on the wheel, or, completed using slab building procedures. The surfaces on several of his pieces are textured using a sandblasting technique that highlights positive and negative space. Sanborn has experimented with, and, perfected this technique of surface design. A Japanese ceramic firing process, known as raku, is often used to complete his artwork. The raku process uses both fire and smoke to create unique colors, and patterns, on the ceramic surface. The spontaneity and unpredictability of raku makes this Sanborn’s preferred firing method. Click here to see an photo essay of the raku process.