I went to Hambidge Art Center in Rabun Gap, GA Friday morning to participate in firing a large wood-fired kiln. We glazed the bisque ware we had all brought and then put balls of clay on the bottoms to prevent them from sticking to the kiln shelves. Then the organizers of the firing loaded the work into the kiln. The doorway was then bricked up and the cracks sealed with clay. A propane burner was set to blow into the kiln for several hours to dry everything, then we started adding wood. We all had to do two four-hour shifts stoking the kiln. I did my first shift from 8 pm to midnight Friday, which was lucky because they were late enough getting started with the propane that the first shift had nothing to do but sit around and drink. But after sleeping 3.5 hours in the back of my station wagon, I had to get up and work a real four-hour shift. We carried wood by the armful from a huge pile to the kiln, then fed it into the kiln every 5 to 7 minutes for the whole four hours. That was real work. When I got off at 8 am, I drove home and spent a couple of hour working in the basement, carrying boxes and pushing them around on a hand-truck. Why was I surprised to be sore this morning?
Next Saturday I will go back there for the kiln opening and hope that all 15 of the pieces I had there survived and look good. That day will be a work-day, too, since the kiln shelves all have to be ground clean and the ashes dealt with, but I'm hoping it will prove to be worth the effort.
Here are a few of the pictures from this adventure. The rest can be seen at my Flickr page.
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