Smoke Firing Ceramics Jan 20 | susankeeble-artist

So...this is what I've been up to over Christmas. Smoke Firing!

You may know that I enjoy ceramics alongside my painting practice. A smoke firing is a simple, but very exciting way to finish pots.

The pots are first biscuit fired in a conventional kiln, then instead of using the usual glazes, they are burnishes and fired in sawdust, with the addition of things like seaweed, copper foil, leaves etc, in the hope of creating interesting effects.

Loading the kiln

In go the pots, with all sorts of hopeful additions!

Now the long wait!

A slow firing is best.

Finished Products

Once they have been cleaned up and polished, the colours and subtle patterns and tones are revealed

Lighting the fire

Once all the pots are in, and the sawdust is packed tight, the fire is started at the top.

Moment of Truth.

Once everything has cooled down you can peep. At least nothing has exploded!

And more

It is a very exciting procedure, as there is really no way of predicting what results will be produced.