Wood Firing and Cowboy Coffee

As the wood-firing marathon intensified – and the house grew busier - we all noticed how difficult it was to select our favourite mug for the morning or midnight coffee – what a choice! Nevertheless it was ‘cowboy’ coffee (i.e coffee of the very strong variety!) and it was being consumed by the litre!

Prior to lighting the Olsen kiln, we had discussed the range of work within the kiln (including a component of greenware) and also the known cold spots between the two stoking doors and between the two chimneys. I was not concerned whether some of my work did not reach peak temperature as Lars, a Danish artist who helped build the kiln in 1998, explained how he has been happy with results from a place in the kiln where it only reached cone 9. A valid suggestion was made by Ingre (Norway/DK), however, that we have a minimum of four days cooling to avoid cracking near chimney.

The firing for the Olsen began at 3pm Wed 19th August and was complete by 3.20pm Sat 22nd August – 3 days in total.
My initial shift began 2am Thursday morning through to 8am. At the beginning of my shift at 2am, the kiln had reached 350 degrees. We steadily stoked continuously and reached 600 degrees by 7am.
Below I am rugged up at 5am and you can see that being up before dawn DOES get cold in the Danish summer – but the sunrise made this long firing worth it!

By Thursday at midnight, the kiln reached 1200 degrees (cone 12 down in first fire box) then Friday the temperature was kept steady between 1185 and 1225 degrees.
Friday afternoon, upon Markus Bohm’s suggestion, the firing crew agreed to try reduction cooling as this had never been done in the Olsen kiln. There was a mixed feeling amongst some of the more weary crew as this meant another night shift to hold the kiln overnight between 1185 and 1200 degrees. I partnered with Markus for the 8am until 2am shift and the first thing I noticed when I took over was that the kiln shelf at the front of the first firebox had broken! Either some boisterous stoking or a weakness in the shelf to begin with. Fortunately the heavy work (of mine, Sten’s and Nina’s!) was being propped up by tiny porcelain bowls the shelf had fell to rest on.

Above is a photo of Markus stoking the Olsen on the final night of firing

When I woke on Saturday morning, the kiln had reached top temperature and all cones were down by 10am. We embarked on the reduction cooling - firstly we closed the passive dampers, mouse holes and sealed up the side door. We closed the dampers and the chimneys. We kept the front stoking door open and referring to the Owen Rye (AU) paper on reduction cooling – stoking with wet logs and also wild rhubarb from the kiln yard to introduce moisture to the kiln during the cooling.

Delerious after all our hard work, Richard our studio manager decided it would be fun to celebrate with a big hug for me – meaning I was covered in sloppy slip!!

From 10.30am – 3.30pm the temperature slowly declined from 1218 degrees to 1050 degrees. At 3.30pm Marie and I completed sealing up the kiln – very happy and proud of our work!

Throughout the day, there were formal presentations on wood-firing. I was really impressed to see a presentation made by Steve and Janine about their property in the Southern Highlands, half way between Canberra and Sydney. You can see more of Steve and Janine’s work at http://www.hotnsticky.com.au/

Still to come:

Images of my work from the Olsen firing, another Bourry Box firing, Raku with Anders Gydum (DK) and a trip to see a kiln built in Scotland!

Thanks again to my Lord Mayor's Fellowship and Arts Queensland for making this trip possible!