Art Chowder November | December, Issue 24 | Page 22

I
didn’t know what to expect when I
walked across Gina Freuen’s gorgeous
fairytale property toward the kiln. My
junior high school offered an elective
ceramics class, but to me at the time
it seemed like a glorified opportunity
to make tacky kitsch, so I avoided it
wholeheartedly. I’d seen pottery in
boutique stores and art galleries, but
apart from their functions I didn’t much
see what the fuss was. I didn’t know
what makes the pot shine or gives it
those strange patina-like colors. I had no
idea how much chemistry and scientific
method was involved in the process. I
even googled images of “wood firing
kiln” the night before I went on-scene
just to be sure I’d recognize it. Nothing
disappointed me.
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ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE
I was met with the bustle of shared
activity and camaraderie as I
approached, people moving like
honeybees around a dome-shaped
structure. The basic principle of a
kiln is to load it as full and evenly as
possible with your clay works, build
a fire at the front of the structure,
brick up the aperture except for a tiny
portal through which to add wood
(being careful to keep the door shut
at all other times), and let the 12-foot
chimney at the other end draw the
flame and heat and ash throughout
the chamber. Five or six artists, some
of whom have waited months to use
it, share the work and rewards of the
kiln, along with a couple of supporters
and interested parties.
This process spans at least four days of
24-hour-a-day fire-monitoring. They take
it in shifts, using a special thermometer
to measure the heat and making notes at
least every 15 minutes. The heat can’t
just be extreme, it has to be efficient.
You don’t want to just cover the objects
with ash — you want to melt the ash on
the objects (this is usually what makes
them look glazed, and often adds special
colors as well). The heat is so intense
that when they open the door to add fuel,
they have to wear welding-grade masks
and leather gear. One night we “roasted”
marshmallows — which was more just a
game of watching them burst into flame
immediately upon being let into the
chamber. It’s HOT.