This blog was born out of necessity. It all started a couple months ago, when I brought one of my pit fired pieces to some friends to show what wonderful things horse manure can do for a pot. (This piece was smoke-fired in a BBQ using horse manure as fuel — well, actually some wood was used, too! And okay, full disclosure: the pot had also been bisque-fired to cone 06 prior to the firing in the BBQ, and was wrapped in salted raffia with copper carbonate sprinkled about during the smoke-firing. So it’s not just horse poop!)
One thing led to another after the show and tell. Before long I was tasked to organize a pit firing event. Then came the myriad of questions: What kind of clay should I use? What kind of effects can I expect? What kind of forms are good for pit firing? Is there any kind of special preparations that I should do for my pot before the pit fire? What kind of preparation or treatment will cause the effects I see in this pot here?
Or that one over there? (more…)