Wood firing at Strathnairn

In 2011 I participated in two wood firings at 'Strathnairn' in the ACT. As I was keen to learn more about the process of wood firing I put my name down for a firing that Ian Jones was organising. I made a series of pots consisting of the clay from 'Spring Creek' and some recycled stoneware I had on hand, the mix was about 50/50. I used a couple of  glazes that I had developed since 2007 which include local materials and a new creme glaze (made predominately from a  rock I find in the creek). I would normally fire these glazes in gas kiln using reduction up to cone 10 (1300 Celsius approx).

When the clouds roll in , 2011, Spring Creek clay (local stoneware) and cloud glaze (Chun).

The process of splitting wood, packing the kiln, firing and then unpacking the kiln, took place over several weekends. The firing itself took several days. Despite the lengthy process I was pleased with the results - the pots definitely looked different to the gas fired ones. The pot below shows the same glaze on the top of the pot and a black glaze on the bottom which ran and stuck this pot to the shelf. The creme glaze reacted nicely with the ash from the burning wood (also below).

Same glaze fired in the wood kiln (note: different clay body)



Creme glaze with ash deposits, wood fired.