There were five kilns at the ICF and following the development of each was a continuous source of interest. Jorgen Hansen from Denmark had built a sculpture during the week previous to the festival and over the weekend clad it in kiln blanket and wood fired it in situ. On Friday the sculpture remained damp in places and a small fire was lit beneath it to dry it. On Saturday morning the process was well under way with the wood fires lit underneath the sculpture. I have no photographs of the kiln firing but late in the evening on Saturday the blanket was removed at the highest temperature to expose the sculpture – it was a memorable occasion for more than one reason (more later).
Mick Morgan fired the small pots made by festival attendees during the weekend in an open-hearth wood fired kiln. The pots were placed in the hearth and wood built up around them – at one point during the afternoon walking through the festival site was like being in something out of a Hieronymus Bosch scene with smoke everywhere and people involved in all sorts of activities.
Mateusz Grobelny brought along his mobile wood fired kiln and it was great fun watching it being erected on the site. Pulling the 30ft chimney into place took eight people and a lot of coordination. When it was firing it belched out plumes of black smoke that added to the electric atmosphere around the festival site.
The Coleg Sir Gwent Gas Kiln was not quite as spectacular as the others but it was a lesson in efficiency. Built on site from scratch it looked professional and performed extremely well. I have a pictorial record of how the kiln was built and I’m hoping to recreate it at Corsham.
The most spectacular kiln for me was the glass bottle wood-fired kiln built be Karin Putsch-Grassi. The base of the kiln was a firebrick firebox built-in a circle. Then wine bottles were laid with their necks facing into the centre and the broader parts of the bottles were cemented in place using a mixture of ball clay and sand. A chimney was added. There were a few pieces of ceramics in the kiln but these didn’t survive the firing. The kiln was fired very slowly to the melting point of glass so that the interior of the kiln melted while the outside remained intact. Late at night when the firing was taking place the glow of the fire could be seen through the bases of the bottles – it was a magnificent sight. On Sunday morning the kiln was opened and I took photographs of the interior – incredible!
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