A Kindled Spirit

Ann Marie coined the phrase "Kindled Spirit" for those like her, the ceramicists with a passion for claying with fire. These folks find each other across the globe, sharing knowledge, experience, woes, and good times.

Wood-Firing

It 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. 
Video credit to Heather Hitt
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Ann Marie and her beloved Smoke Farm Firing Cohort, minus the camera-shy or sleeping.
Introduced to wood-firing in 2013 at the Smoke Farm Train Kiln, Ann Marie quickly developed a deep affection for atmospheric firing.  Her passion for wood-firing has brought great adventures and the dearest friendships into her life, some of which you can read about on her blog.

PictureSimon Levin and Ann Marie Cooper
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
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Ann Marie Cooper and Tara Wilson
Read Ann Marie's blog post about the 2018 WCA wood-firing workshop in Ellensburg with Tara Wilson.
Read about Ann Marie's return to Illinois in 2022 for a workshop and wood-firing at Amy Song's studio, River Song Pottery.
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Heather Hitt, Eva Funderburgh, Jeremy Noet, Ann Marie Cooper and Jesse Jones
Click here to read about Ann Marie's adventures in Oregon, wood-firing at Pleasant Hill Pottery in 2023.

Stoke On!

​In 2021, Ann Marie began building a wood kiln in Bellingham, Washington with Heather Hitt, Jeremy Noet and Amy Popelka, which will allow much more frequent wood-firings! This fabulous foursome completed and successfully fired their Coyote Kiln of Many Colors in June of 2023.
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Ann Marie Cooper, Amy Popelka, Jeremy Noet and Heather Hitt: The Coyote Kiln of Many Colors Crew

Soda-Firing

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. 
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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.)
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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