A word about wood-firing...
With examples dating back thousands of years, folks in the Orient may have been the first to fire pottery using wood. However, nearly every culture with a forest available has developed some method for hardening clay vessels in a wood fire. Even here in the southeastern United States, a kiln called a "ground hog" was commonly used to fire pottery for domestic use. Wood-firing is quite labor intensive an traditionally uses several cords of wood for a single burning which could last for over a week. It is for this reason that most contemporary potters use modern electric and gas-fired kilns. Additionally, it is speculated that wood-firing pottery added significantly to the deforestation of Korea and the size reduction of the Black Forest in Europe.
Here at Dark Cove Pottery, we have built a wood kiln with a different design. By using technologically advanced materials and a more energy efficient fire flow pattern, we can cut our firing time to about 12 hours and use less than a pick-up load of scrap wood from Ralph's sawmill. During a firing, we stoke the fireboxes every minute or two and eventually reach a temperature of around 2300 degrees Fahrenheit, the point when wood ashes on the pots melt into glass and form the surface glaze. the variable effects are classic to wood-firing and range from black, thick and crusty to a more subtle cream-colored wash.
Strongly influenced by the type of wood used, the atmospheric conditions, and probably even the phase of the moon, there is only an illusion of control at a wood-firing. The process is a tightly interactive communication between the potter and the kiln. Initially, a gentle draft must coax the young flame through the maze of stacked pots inside. Over several hours, pressure builds as the flame grows to fill the chamber. By the end, a single, thirty foot flame violently roars through the kiln with a force that explodes from the chimney top. Later, while unloading the finished pots, it is evident that they have lived through an inferno and each has its version of the story to tell. Every pot is cherished for its variations, for often unrepeatable surprises result from this dance between the potter and the flame.
Jackie
©darkcove.com 2006