Like no other method, wood firing unleashes primal forces of nature upon the work in the kiln. When standing before a kiln burning in all its raging
might and glory, one cannot help but feel that it is as much alive as
the potter who serves and attends to its needs. During the course of a wood firing, a time which may extend for many days and nights in a row, the potter and kiln become intimate collaborators in the work.
There is something different and wonderful about wood fired work, but the differences merit explanation. Wood fired pottery is unlike anything available in stores. It is not mechanically perfect, nor is it always glossy and without blemish. The pottery warps and bends under the force of gravity while sitting in a pyroplastic state for many days. The glazing is uneven and incidental because it forms as a combination of several conditions: melting of minerals in the clay itself; deposits left by the superheated plasma of fire as it flows and swirls through the kiln like water over rapids; and the dusting of wood ash as it drifts through the kiln landing where it may. There is no chance that two pieces fired in a wood kiln will ever appear identical, even to the naked eye.
Yet it is these "imperfections" that make wood fired pottery so attractive. They are not actually imperfections at all, rather, they are an imprint of the natural world. Think how bland and dull a seascape would be if the cliffs dropping to the ocean were utterly smooth, plumb, and all corners cut at right angles: no grizzled ancient trees clinging perilously close to the precipices; no sculpting by waves and sand where stone meets water. Gladly, we do not live in such a world. Our world is one in which nature forms randomized patterns that dazzle our senses and delight our minds.
The intricately randomized patterns found on wood fired pottery are of the same lineage. Although the pottery is shaped by human hands, the work is ultimately finished by the hand of nature. It is in this way that wood fired pottery acquires a depth and beauty possible only where human and natural influences intersect. It embodies the heart of the potter, and the soul of the earth.
