We will talk about the firing process, but also about what clay bodies, slips and pots work best in wood. You will see and handle examples of not only the teachers’ work but also the wood-fired work they’ve collected from potters in the US and other countries. We will be working towards a May wood firing at the Hutchins Wood Kiln.

A separate firing fee of $75 will be paid to the owner of the kiln, our very own Deb Hutchins.

Hollis Engley and Kimberly Sheerin, partners in The Barn Pottery in Pocasset, have been firing with wood for years. Their styles are quite different, but both work well in a wood kiln. Kim started 10 years ago, firing in the Truro train kiln, then Nancy Magnusson’s kiln in western Mass., Chris Gustin’s anagama in South Dartmouth and Rose Esson-Dawson’s kiln in Westport. Hollis was very much a beginner in 1993 when Dan Finnegan invited him to fire in the Finnegan/Bill Van Gilder kiln in Maryland. He later wrote about that kiln for Ceramics Monthly. He has since fired at Chester Springs in Pennsylvania, Finnegan’s kiln in Fredericksburg VA, Anderson Ranch in Colorado, and in Nancy Magnusson’s and Rose Esson-Dawson’s kilns. He has been part of the Gustin kiln crew for almost 20 years. Both teachers have had wood-fired work juried into the State of Clay semi-annual show in Lexington and have shown at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, the Cahoon Museum and Highfield Hall, the Falmouth and Cotuit art centers, among others.

This course will prepare you to fire in the new wood kiln in Marstons Mills.