First Firing

A while ago I went to an iron-worker and had him make a barrel-kiln for me, according to a design that I found in a book. He was amused by the project. Usually he makes grates to put over windows, gates,and railings. He looked at the picture of the kiln in the book, quickly figured out how to improve on the design, and agreed to bring it to our house once it was finished. I told him that if it was a success, we could go into business together.

The kiln is pretty funny looking.

It’s meant to be filled with sawdust, and it has a chimney so that during firing, air will flow through the sawdust and make the fire burn very hot.

The raw clay before firing

The ware I was planning to fire was meant to be hand-built planters. Here the the pieces are upside down, to let the sun dry the bottoms thoroughly. As it turned out, not thoroughly enough!

What I am trying to do

I decided to concentrate on hand-building in the modest workspace I cleared for myself in a spare room in our house. I take weekly lessons on the wheel, and I want to keep that up. I didn’t want to invest in a wheel. I’m not sure I ever will. I think I’ll concentrate on hand-building, but I want to develop the skills I need in making pots on the wheel. So I’m doing two different things with pottery in two different places.

Loading the Kiln

I got some sacks of sawdust from a carpenter in the Arab part of our neighborhood. I followed the instructions in the book and loaded the kiln.

Why Planters?

I want to develop my skill in hand-building by making bowl-shaped objects. I’m gradually learning what I can do with clay. Since the vessels aren’t going to be glazed, and they can’t be used for food, planters seemed the obvious choice. Planters are not exactly useful, but they’re more than simply decorative: the combination of pot and plant is a good one, and the person who uses the planter is participating in the design of the final object. I’m not ready to try sculpture yet – not at my level of skill and not in my soul. But a planter is almost a sculpture. It’s a sculpture that doesn’t say: look at me, I’m a sculpture!

The fire is lit

For a few hours smoke poured out of the kiln. That’s what the book said would

happen, but it was still kind of alarming.

Finally, smoke started coming out of the chimney

The kiln worked

The next morning, the barrel was cool, and when we opened it ...

What I learned

The barrel kiln does get hot enough to fire clay. I have to let the raw clay dry out much more thoroughly. Some of the pieces exploded in the kiln, because there was still moisture in the clay.

For the future

I think the pots were blackened by the coating that was on the inside of the barrel and the lid. I hope they won’t come out so charred looking next time around. After all, how long can I keep making things that look as if they were found in Pompeii?

Summing upIt was fun. It was promising. It’s a direction of

work. I don’t want to buy a sophisticated electric kiln now. I’d rather keep using the

pottery lessons to make glazed pots and use the little studio in the house for doing more

primitive and experimental things. Part of the attraction of pottery for me is the deep

antiquity of the craft. By firing work in this ancient way, I am making contact with the origins of the craft. I’m not sure where I’ll

eventually go, as I gain skill and experience, but I’m pleased with the beginning.