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More Pyromaniacs

11/4/2011

6 Comments

 
Picture
photo by Amy Castner
I remember planning the very first wood-firing for the Greenbelt Community Center three years ago, not sure if I could get 8 people to sign up. This year, the 2011 workshop had 14 spots, and on the first day of registration, it was filled. This time I was nervous about organizing 14 people. First-timers had to talk to me before signing up, so I could make sure they were well-suited for this unusual experience. I only wanted to bring students who were familiar with the aesthetics of wood-fired pottery, and who had some idea of how much work and cooperation was involved. It's too much effort to make for people who can't appreciate it, but it's joyous fun with people who do. This is really important to me, to make sure wood-firings are fun. Not that the education aspect is any less important. But it takes a crew of people to get through this, so if folks aren't working together smoothly, you really can't learn much. On the other hand, if your group consists of smart, intrepid, genuine pottery loving, nice people, and pyromaniacs ... well, let the fun begin.

We moved our workshop to a different venue this year, to Baltimore Clayworks. And boy were we happy with this decision! Their kiln is a two-chamber noborigama, larger and more complex than the one we had been visiting before. And it is operated in a first-class manner by kiln manager Jim Dugan and his assistant Jeremy Wallace. They provided tons of leadership and expertise, while making sure everyone got as much hands-on contact with the kiln as possible. 

Here's Jeremy directing traffic, while students line up to hand him pots, and Kori Rice places the pots into the kiln. Everyone who wanted got a chance to climb into the kiln and do what Kori's doing.
Picture
photo by Amy Castner
Here's a complete stack of pots inside of one of the chambers.
Picture
photo by Amy Castner
When the kiln was full, the doors were closed with carefully stacked bricks. Vejune Svotelis and Alan Dowdy worked on one, while Kori and Jeremy stacked the other. Loading the kiln and stacking the bricks took an entire day. 
The next morning started with sealing the brick doors with newspaper and clay slip, kind-of like paper maché. Good messy fun.
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photo by Janet Evander
And then the fire started. Here are Carol Wisdom and Kelly Buck-Hunt sorting wood planks while the beginning stage of the fire, known as the preheat fire, crackles away.
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Kuniko Wallis keeps the preheat fire going.
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The preheat fire grew into a bed of coals inside the kiln. (front to back) Vejune Svotelis, Jeri Holloway, and Christina Guidorizzi scrape and poke at the coals to get ash to fly up into the kiln and onto our pots.
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More ash was introduced through the main stoking port of the kiln. Here is Janet Evander pouring a cup of ash onto a wood plank right before tossing it into the kiln.
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photo taken with Janet's camera by Kelly Buck-Hunt
The stoking of wood planks through the main stoking port began around 3pm. Just about everyone got a chance to do it. Notice how as the evening grew darker, the stokes grew from one plank at a time, to five at a time.
Our fearless leader, Jim Dugan, dodges sparks while checking a cone pack.
Picture
photo by Christina Guidorizzi
My stoking shift was officially over at 12:30am, past midnight. And just like many others from the earlier shifts, I found it difficult to leave! You feel so connected to what you're doing. But you can't do it by yourself, and there comes a time to let others take over. For this firing, a particularly brave few volunteered for the overnight shift: Amy and her husband Matt, Kori, and Tom Baker. They took over at 12:30am and worked until 7:30am. An incredibly difficult task, but they also got to see the kiln at its most spectacular stage.
Picture
photo by Amy Castner
And then the waiting began. We had to wait three days until we could return and unload the kiln. On the left are Karen Arrington, Carol Wisdom, and Karen Morgenstern scraping and scrubbing off the newspaper before the bricks could be removed. On the right is Janet handing bricks to Amy.
And finally we got to have our pots. And it was worth the wait, and all the hard work! The results were gorgeous, in some cases overwhelming. The celadon (my favorite glaze) was deep green, ultra shiny, and full of crackle. The shino, which usually fires to an understated white, was the biggest surprise. This time we got all different shades of peach and orange, with an almost pearly shine. The salt and soda glazed pieces were unbelievable too. Here are some of the finished pots ... click on the thumbnails for full-size images.
Here are all of my pots back in my dining room. A week has gone by and I am still goofy with happiness over them. Still discovering new details. I had a personal quest for my own pots at this firing. I want to become good at hakeme, those gracefully loose brush strokes of slip. I made a lot of small pots to practice with various brushes, strokes, and claybodies. I'm happy with the results, but as usual I can't wait to do it again, so I can refine and deepen my techniques.
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I don't think I'll bring any of these pots to my next show, I'd like to hang on to them a little longer. Maybe I'll be ready to part with them by the end of the year. 

This was truly the best wood-firing I've ever been a part of, from start to finish.
6 Comments
Kelly
11/4/2011 04:15:18 am

Thank you for your leadership in a truly remarkable experience! I am more in love with wood-fired pottery than ever before... in addition to the amazing results (my "non-expectations" were blown out of the water for each of my pots!!), all of the hard work and connection with the others on the crew helped deepen the experience into something really personal and magical! I can't wait until next year!

Reply
Tom
11/5/2011 11:24:06 am

The overnight experience was truly wonderful. When we began to stoke the second chamber, the sound of the blaze and draft mixing together was magnificent. The fire soared from the chimney with a crescent moon and October stars in the background; a beautiful sight. Since I was not able to be at the unloading, it's great to see more of the amazing results. I was so happy with my sculpture, and cat teapot, officially named "Tomodachi", Japanese for "friendship". Thanks to everyone. Love for the craft/art and teamwork make it happen. Thanks Mea, for a great class experience.

Reply
holly
11/6/2011 07:26:20 am

I think this is the coolest thing I have ever seen.

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littlewrenpottery link
11/13/2011 10:33:32 pm

wow looks amazing, I'd love to know more about kilns and the firing process. By the looks of thing plenty of others want to know too! Looks like you all had great fun : ) The pots look gorgeous too fabulous!

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Jonathan
11/21/2011 01:39:45 am

I love those hakame bowls. Very inspiring. I just found one at the Smithsonian website that has also inspired me: http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/zoomObject.cfm?ObjectId=54870

I can't wait to get back to doing pots on a more regular basis.

Reply
lyn cole link
12/7/2011 08:53:43 am

Hi i was a member of a team of 5 who did our first wood firing 2 weeks ago and I'm blown away from the experience and we havnt even cracked the kiln yet lol What a joy to share, now I know why wood firers are so passionate about their craft.
Thanks for sharing this story, I have images of our firing on my blog, but cannot wait to see the pots. The kiln we used is 3 hours away and we are waiting to make a time where we will all be there to share the excitement.
Congrats on your gorgeous pots x

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    Mea Rhee (mee-uh ree),
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