Wood Fired Pottery is by many considered the finest kind of pottery. True pottery art. And it's not without reason. The combination of oxygen reduces atmosphere, flames and ashes create outstanding, unique colors and patterns that can only be made in a wood fired kiln.
Wood firing pottery is a very long process and it takes a lot of hard work. After the pots have been bisque fired (pre firing without glaze) they are ready for the glaze fire in the wood fire kiln.
But before the actual fire can be initiated there is typically 1-2 days of work preparing it.
- The pots have to be glazed with special glazes suited for wood fire
- So called "waddings" have to be made - they are used to seperate the pots from the kiln shelf to avoid the glue to them when fired
- A lot of wood has to chopped!
- The pots have to be carefully stacked in the kiln
- And finally the kiln has to be closed up - ready for fire
The actual fire of the wood fire kiln takes typically 16-24 hours to complete. After that all holes are sealed and the kiln is left to cool down. That can take several days.
Only after the kiln and pottery is cold enough, the kiln can be carefully opened and the pots taken out one by one. Very often with surprises but almost always with amazing results.
But, there are almost always also failures. There are many risks in wood firing. No-one ever succeeds with all the pots in a fire. This is another reason why they cost a bit extra.
The ones that survive, the ones that come out perfect and second to none, they are precious.
