Wood Firing With Svend Bayer

Oh what an opportunity I have had this September. I went down to Oxford University to fire about 40 pieces of work at Oxford Kilns in Wytham Woods.

To keep costs down I stayed at their research lab and met lots of interesting people from all over the world investigating moles, mice, bats, bees, moths and ash trees from the biology department at the university. There is so much going on that we don’t know about.

However let’s get back to the kilns. I brought some of my sculptures and created some functional ware to fire in the kiln. There were a few glazes to try but we were advised to try to fire unglazed to see the impact of the flame and ash on the pieces. I wanted to learn as much as possible so tried lots of things like saggar firing and using plant material to create interest.

We spent 2 days packing the kiln and I was pleased when my work was placed in a variety of positions in the kiln as each kiln will have cool and hot spots creating different effects on the surface. Wood firing is a slow process, lots of chopping wood which needs to be stacked for quick and easy access. Wadding is made using fire clay and sand which is then applied to each pot to prevent them sticking to the shelves. It’s a lot of work, physically demanding which is why firing frequency is usually low each year. It’s a lot harder than turning on my electric kiln!

Once packing of the kiln was finished it was sealed up with the rest of the bricks. An offering was made of saki and salt to encourage a good firing before I was given the honour of lighting the kiln. We arranged ourselves into three teams to do two shifts each day 4 hours on 8 hours off.

Our team took the 6-10 timeslot over the next three days. It required a lot of observation and there was a kind of rhythm to the process. You were always alert to what was happening. It was incredibly hot at the end of the third day of firing, burning my protective gloves each time I stoked the kiln. We were wearing protective goggles and face coverings towards the end too. By 1130am on the Sunday after a 54 hour firing, we reached cone 12 at 1330C degrees and did our last side stoking at the back of the kiln before closing it up.

The kiln was left to cool down before returning a week later to unpack and see our results.

London Potters were also firing a test kiln and fast fire kiln while we were there so it was interesting to compare the similarities and differences in techniques. I used their ash glaze to decorate a square plate which was placed in the fast fire kiln and was very happy with the results.

When we all arrived back after waiting a week opened the kiln with a mixture of trepidation and excitement but there was soon many relieved and smiling faces.