Building a wood-fired kiln

Over this past weekend I was fortunate enough to take part of a wood kiln firing at the ceramics studio in Dows Fine Arts Center. I decided to take part in the firing because I myself included a piece (see below). This was a great experience and really got me thinking as to how I could build a wood fired kiln at my house someday. And to my surprise, it is rather simple since after all, this is how the early forms of ceramics were fired. 

 Coe's wood kiln

More detailed instructions can be found here. But I can best describe the construction of a wood fired kiln as being a rectangular structure with a chimney built entirely out of bricks.

It is really rewarding to take part in one of these firings because you see the transforamtion of your pottery within a matter of hours. I would highly recomend taking part in such a process if one is ever lucky enough (or interested enough) to do so. 

 

 

Mine is the teapot in the middle

If you want to see more photos of the process and of the ceramics we fired, visit Justina Cline's blog here