Kiln Construction: Day 4

I returned to Canberra after day three. I didn't return until mid January when there was a cool change. This time I needed to complete the dampers and chimney. I had a slight mishap however, I got a bit too eager and tried to remove the form from the arch by myself. The form twisted when I tried to remove it and knocked the whole arch and firebox down. I had to reconstruct the firebox and arch all over again!  This error cost me an extra day.

Oops! Start again...Kiln cleared ready to rebuild.

Reconstruction of the arch take two.

Front of the kiln with extra layer of bricks and stone buttressing







Calculating the number of arch bricks needed

After I had drawn the catenary curve on a large sheet of plywood. I cut it out using a band saw and used it to calculate the number of straight and arch bricks needed. I used the spare bricks the ANU ceramics workshop had on hand to see what was the right combination of bricks, to fit the curve, before I ordered my own bricks.

Wood Firing #2 at Strathnairn

 After what I thought were good results from the first Strathnairn wood firing, I organised another firing to take place in October. This time I made vessels made from only the Spring Creek clay and used the same glazes. I did however, alter the way the glazes were sprayed on the pot by overlapping\over spraying the glaze in various places and thicknesses. I tried several different combinations.

The vessels I made this time generally had a narrow base which proved to be a little problematic. I made 20 pots for this group firing but only 12 survived, many fell over due to the narrow base and my incorrect wadding technique. I applied one large wad to stabilise my pots in the pack rather than several smaller ones - next time I will stick with several smaller wads on each pot (e.g. 3 or 5 or 7) to keep them upright during the high temperatures.

Front of kiln packed and ready to fired

Picture of one of my pots tipping over and touching the prop (Brick)

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.



Red Brown Earth

 I grew up on 'Spring Creek' and went to school at Tullamore Central (a small 7 -10 Public School). Even though I don't live there now I still feel connected to it. It has been a major constant in my life. When I was of high school age I enrolled at Parkes High (Public 7-12 School) some 114 kms away. It was here where I received an education that ultimately led me to pursue a life and career off the farm. I was never persuaded not to pursue another career, rather encouraged to find a more profitable pursuit than farming. In an agriculture class at Parkes High I learned that text books referred to the soils of the region as red brown. Now I make ceramic artworks that attempt to reflect the place through; the materials I use, abstract representations of the sky, the earth, weather patterns and other natural cycles experienced while visiting the location.

Lambs August 2007

Using Local Materials?

In December 2006 in the midst of drought, my dad had a great number of his dams excavated when they were dry. Obviously to remove silt etc. and allow more water storage when it eventually rained again. I was curious about the clays that could be 'found' this way. In one dam in particular we found 'white stuff', as my dad called it, I was instantly intrigued.



Drought and empty dam December 2006



2006 Clay deposit on the sides and bottom of the dam

I am not a geologist or potter with vast experience so I found myself on a steep learning curve!!

Could I make things from this clay? and what else could I use from the farm (same location) to create art and would this art reflect its location? - developing a sense or impression of place. I wanted to learn more about ceramics so I applied to do post-graduate study at the ANU in 2007.

So I was off, looking for what I could use. Initially I looked in the pile of dirt/silt/clay that was excavated from the dam. Fortunately for me I had a conversation with my dad during the excavation and he was able to move the bulk of the 'white stuff' off the bottom of the dam, to a large pile on one side (2.5 m x 5 m approx). Here is where I started looking, I found: Clay that looked primary in nature (marbled with iron), a curious red rock (sedimentary and quite sandy) and a hard whitish rock (quartzite). The photos of these first discoveries are below:

2007 Large clay pile

Clay material

Red rock

Quartzite

The story so far

Since 2007 I have been focusing my post-graduate study on using local materials in my ceramic works. I have been using local materials i.e. clay, rocks and wood ash that I have found on location at our family farm near Tullamore NSW (Central West NSW - 114 Km NW of Parkes). As the location has become included quite literally in the work I have created, the affect of place on personal experience and memories has also been the primary context of my investigation.

In 2012 I aim to complete my Master of Arts (Visual Arts) at the ANU. To complete my project I am building a kiln at our family farm. I hope to include work from this kiln in my graduating exhibition at the ANU in early 2013. In addition to this I am having a solo exhibition in July that will show my work to date. I hope to use this log to document my progress and to share the lessons learned.

Creek after the flood on our family farm 'Spring Creek' in 2008.