ee AS a. = 2F £4418 oe

As potters in 8.0. we are really lucky to
have 2 wood kilns for all of us to use in
our back yard. Those that have been
involved in the making and first firing have
some idea of the devotion and hard work
that has been invetved to have built these
fantastic wood kilns. There ls the smaller
Anagama kiln thet takes 3 days to fire and
the larger 4 chamber Noborigama (Tozan)
kiin that can require seven days to
complete a firing. Those involved in the
axpenence of the Irst Tozan firing can tell
you that it can't be compared to any other
type of firing, It is an interactive sharing
growth experience not to be missed.
Thera is a direct interaction weth the firing
process aver @ period of time in which the
potter is invetved with the kiln and their
fellow potters. In Jack Troy's new book on
wood-firing ha says that potters have
been heard to say its “too labor-intensive
to justify time away from other activities,
but very few who have been actively
involved in such events share that view",

Yukio Yamamoto is returning this March
and the Tazan kiln is to be fired in April,
As a potter that would like to participate in
this firing it's easy for yoy do sq, You or
your guild needs ta be a member of the
Tozan Society. The annual membership
fea is $20 per person or $100 per Guild
due every April. You must be a member
to participate in the firing. As a member
you will receive the Tozan Newsletter that
will keap you up to dale on what's
happening. Tha cost of your pots in the

kiln depends om how much space you
actually use, This fee is based on $10 per
cubic foot if you particpate with the kiln
firing, $20 per cubic foot if you are not
able to attend the finng at all When you
ebtain your membership specific
information canceming the details of this
process, contact names and phone
numbers, billeting, some rules to help
guide you f{ex. come 10 clay body
necessary), 2% well as same glaze recipe
information.

Wood firing is a different aesthetic and
wonderful process. Where your pot is
placed in the kilm and how the flame and
ash Interact with your piece during the
firing determine what your piece will loak
like following the firing, This & not putting
a glazed pot in a kiln, turning H on, then
when you take it out the piece will have
the same predictable colour all the way
around and you know pretty much what
the pot is going to look fike. If that pot
doesn't look that specific way its
supposed to, it's fallen short ef your
expectations, The wood-firing process
involwes different parameters with the
work being transformed during the firing
process oftan in an unpredictable way,
that can surpass what you visualized was
possitle, ‘You consider the piece and how
the kiln can affect it, placing it in hopes to
achieve certain effects -then hands stoke
the wood to produce the beat and effects
on those same pots built by your hands.
There is the interaction with fellow potters

A Fiery Romance... oy Fi

Page 6

“nd the kiln during the fining that can't be
Compared, Each piece will be different
and you will learn and @volve with the
Process. Explore and @xpand your
hanzons,

The January 95 Ceramics Monthly has an
@xcellent article about a weed kiln Joseph
Bennion fired in Jamaica that includes
glaze recipes as wall

To become a member and for more
information please contact Les or
Maureen Beardsley in Ladysmith at 245.
4867, The next Tozan firing will be with
Yukio Yamamote starting April 12th.
Leading will aeeur on April 12th and 13th,
then the firing will start as soon as the kiln
is loaded. There will be a second firing
with Yukio this summer starting August
8th, so plan to start early. Signing up for
either firing and booking your shifts can
be done by contacting Gari Whelon at
751-0660. So plan early to participate in
firing the wonderful wood kilns we now
have for our communsy to experience.

Cathi Jefferson

Fellow Low Fire Types, don’t be afraid
to try the Tozan, you can order Highfire
Clay from Greenbarn, maybe share a box
with a friend. [tis suggested thatwe
make the work a bit thicker than usual,
grogeed clay isn’t a bad idea, either! An
experienced wood fire person tells me
that a clear cone 10 glaze on the inside
of your pot (if functional), and a raw
exterior that lets the ash and flame do
the work can be brilliant KO

| fell in love with the wood fired kilns when | visited the Tozan

course, rely on modem technology in the form of cones, As

kilns at the Northern Arizona University campus. These kilns each chamber comes to temperature
were built by Japanese Master Potter Yukio Yamamoto. On itis sealed off and the next chamber is then lit until all

my second trip to Flagstaff to fire the kilns | met Yukio and
was invited to visit him in Japan. While | was there | helped
fire the kilns at his home pottery. Firing these kilns is a
wonderful experience. My dream was to bring these kilns ta
Canada and it has been fulfilled.

chambers are fired. It takes four to five days to fire the kiln.

Firing the kiln is an exercise in co-operation by the teams. It
is wonderful to see everyone working in concert to feed the
“Dragon”. Pottery is normally a solitary art form so it is great

to see the potters enjoying the fellowship.

In China these kilns were referred to as Dragon Kilns and they
live up to this name. They breathe flame and smoke in the
latter part of the firing,

NOW comes the interesting stuffl!!!!
Watching the fire and feeding it and learning to understand it

is very satisfying. it is like a “Dragon” with a huge appetite.

When the fire is first started it is kept small, but steady to
warm up the pottery inside the kiln. As the heat works through
the fire is increased creating a bed of charcoal and ash which
then ignites the wood used for stoking. The fire is started in
the Dogo House at the front of the kiln, A close eye is kept on
the pots to see how the fire is progressing. It is magic to see
the flame create the wonderful effects, Leaming to read the

Come and join a firing.

You can see the flame, feel the heat, hear it pulse through the
kiln. You learn to become one with the flame and ride it
through the kiln. ‘You can feel the effects of the flame on the
pots. It is a wonderful and very exhilarating sensation and
there is nothing like it anywhere.

you will never forget it,

pots and the degree of heat affecting them is an art in itself Les Beardsley R.R. #4, Ladysmith, BC VOR 2C0

and takes many firings to learn the secret. We also, of