Wood-FiringIt takes a team of people all day (or many days) to load the kiln, taking into careful consideration how each pot is stacked on or near another in the hopes of capturing ideal flame impressions and ash accumulation. Then the kiln is fired for 30-50 hours--or more--depending on the kind of kiln. The kiln is always attended, and stoked around the clock. It's an intense, but worthwhile process that produces unique work and outstanding friendships. |
Ann Marie's heart belongs to wood-firing.
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![]() Click here to read Ann Marie's blog post about traveling and shipping pots to Illinois to wood-fire at Mill Creek Pottery with Simon Levin in 2018
Read Ann Marie's blog post about the 2018 WCA wood-firing workshop in Ellensburg with Tara Wilson.
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Read about Ann Marie's return to Illinois in 2022 for a workshop and wood-firing at Amy Song's studio, River Song Pottery.
Click here to read about Ann Marie's adventures in Oregon, wood-firing at Pleasant Hill Pottery in 2023.
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Burnish Clay Studio built a gas kiln for soda-firing in 2020, and there's a lot of enthusiasm for this form of atmospheric firing!
Soda-firing offers an alternative to wood-firing with similar results, to which Ann Marie has also taken quite a shine. She has become the fire lead for the Cone 6 soda-firings which happen several times a year. If you'd like to participate in a soda-firing, check out Burnish Clay Studio's website. "Atmospheric firings are time-consuming, but I love that--taking my time to carefully consider where each pot should be placed in the kiln for ideal flame path to create flashing and soda ash accumulation. Depending on kiln size, it can take a day or several days to load it with work. The soda-firing process takes a full day, monitoring the temperature, preparing the soda burritos, and when the temperature is right, tossing those burritos into the kiln every fifteen minutes for a couple of hours. (What's a soda burrito? It's a blend of baking soda and soda ash wrapped up in paper.) Then we let the kiln cool for several days and reverse the process (which goes much faster!), taking note of which placements and clays worked and which didn't. Sometimes things go wrong and work is lost, which is a part of the ceramics process we all begrudgingly accept. The joyful triumphs make up for the losses." - Ann Marie |