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