We have just unpacked the first of the wood fired kiln firings. It didn’t turn out well. I was disappointed, but well prepared for the result. I had spent the first month here making pots from one particular clay body, it turns out that it isn’t at all suitable for my purpose. Everything that I made from it either cracked in the bisque firing, or if it survived the bisque, it either had invisible, hair-line cracks that I couldn’t see, or new cracks were formed which opened up in the glaze. So everything that I made in the first month has gone to the kiln gods, all cracked, sometimes spectacularly so in the glaze. A tragic combination of several things combined .

I’m reminded that a bad workman blames his tools!  I can’t get away with that. I’m fully responsible.

I had to make an installation of ‘3 inseparable pots’!  

However, there were some nice pieces in the kiln, but not enough to justify a show. I had 6 large jars and 12 smaller ones, half of each cracked. I’ll need a better firing next time round to get the bulk of the work for a show. Luckily, all of that ’sus’ clay is now gone. All my remaining jars are made from a different batch of sericite. It turns out that I’m the first and only user of that first batch of clay. There are only 3 bags left. No one else will touch it now! Bummer batch. 

Although this is a set-back, it wont stop me trying to get a good result.

You have to concentrate on the positive, look for the up-side, even if it is a little difficult to see in a dark place. I’m lucky to have got what I have. The forms are good, elegant, open mouthed, small footed, well rounded, and the glaze well melted. The glaze is a mix of the local sericite porcelain stone of the clay body and ash. A believe that it is a very authentic approach to a cultural icon. My interpretation of an ancient concept of aesthetics. My pots are not pure white and unadorned, but rather boldly showing their wood fired heritage. A good but limited outcome. No hammer needed here just now.

Only half the work in the kiln was mine, as I shared the space in the kiln with the other residency artists. They were waiting for me to arrive to fire the wood kiln, as they were keen to have the experience included in their time here. No one else here at the moment wood fires. Just me. They have all seen the kiln standing there and wanted to experience a firing of it. Most of them are making hand built sculptures, some quite delicate. They wanted to limit the firing to lower stoneware temperatures, in case their work slumped. I want to fire a bit higher and longer. We agreed on cone 8 over, starting cone 9. We only reduced lightly to minimise the smoke and the chance of bloating the larger dark, irony clay sculptures. I stopped at cone 9. Next firing will be all my work, so I will fire hotter and longer. Hopefully using local Korean Oak hard wood. That is if it gets delivered before I have to leave? If not, it will be another dirty pine firing. I only have 3 weeks remaining, so fingers crossed!

I just managed to fit this firing in for the previous residents. One left the next morning and hasn’t seen the results, only photos that we sent to her. 2 others waited the extra days to stay for the unpacking and then drove off with their hot pots. Only one of those scheduled to leave that day stayed on to help with the cleaning up. Always the same person! There are just 3 of us left here now, with the new residents arriving in the next couple of days. I leave in just 3 weeks, along with the artist from Taiwan who is next door.  Almost a clean sweep.I have plenty of work to pack the kiln again, but there isn’t any ‘Korean oak’ hard wood in stock. I’m waiting for a new delivery. I don’t want to fire with pine again. It’s filthy, it isn’t the life I want to live. I can’t be proud of firing like that. Making huge plumes of black smoke from my kiln. I know that it is my particular problem. I own it. No one else here that I know thinks like this, everyone who wood fires makes smoke. But I’d feel better if I fired with minimal smoke. At home in Australia, I have also fitted a scrubber to wash out a lot of the PM 2.5 carcinogenic carbon particulates as well. Again, it’s my philosophical issue. I won’t call it a problem again. It shouldn’t be thought of as a problem. It’s an issue. An issue that needs to be recognised, accepted, and dealt with. Eliminating pollution should be normalised at every point of our day to day experience. I can only do my bit and promote my research to as wide an audience as I can reach. The solution lies in community action, and whole of society engagement.

I am fully aware that potters kilns are not even equal to a pimple on the arse of World War Two, when it comes to the amount of carbon pollution we generate. But nevertheless. It all adds up. Getting rid of the ever increasing number of diesel 4WD SUV’s would be a lot more effective. They are scheduled to be phased out in the next couple of decades, starting in 2035, or so I’ve read. 

Janine and I have never owned a diesel, and don’t ever intend to. We replaced our petrol engined cars when they came up for renewal with electric models. We now drive as well as fire all our electric kilns, on our own solar. 

I’ve been telling people here that this is how we live and they stare at me as if I’m lying to them. “NO! That isn’t possible!” Well actually yes, it is, and I’m doing it. Here are my photos. This is my web site. Here is my card. That is my book in the shop over there. Check it out. It is possible. One resident said “No Way!” my reply was ‘Yes Way!” He laughed.

Don’t let people who are poorly informed by facebook, with no real knowledge, or worse, possible ulterior motives, dissuade you. Look for yourself. Do your research! False information and lies are being disseminated by questionable actors in the media all the time, saying how we can’t stop using, coal, oil and gas, even while many countries are now successfully producing over half of their energy from renewables. There is steady progress. Until a few years ago, they were still burning coal briquettes here in this little village for cooking. Progress is happening, but it is glacially slow. No one wants to make the change until it is forced on them. Because change may affect profits? Analysis that I’ve read says that not doing anything will cost us all way more than fixing it.

Children and the elderly are currently dying of heat stroke in France and Europe. Flash floods in Spain, fire storms in California. Glacial melt causing a massive landslide obliterating a Swiss village. All made worse by carbon pollution and global heating.

Crisis, What crisis? We need to do more faster. If not now. When?

So the smoke from my kiln is probably immaterial in the bigger picture, but I still believe that every effort matters. We all need to do what we can.