Clay Times Back Issues Vol. 2 Issue 7 • Nov/Dec 1996 | Page 19

PHOTOS: LAURA WINEGERT

Mud & Fire

A Potter’s Field Day
BY FRAN NEWQUIST

The rolling hills and beautiful
campus of Notre Dame Academy
(NDA) recently set the scene for
Mud & Fire, a potter’s field day held
in Middleburg, Virginia. Threat of
rain did not dampen the spirits of
participants from Maryland,
Virginia, and Washington, DC, who
gathered to share their clay knowledge via throwing, handbuilding,
and firing demonstrations.
Participants were treated to alternative firing techniques including the
lighting of a paper kiln; horse hair
raku; and a pit firing using chemically rich (but cheap) dog food.

burned the sawdust and wood on
the inside. The paper shell was
still intact when the armature was
removed at the end of the day. The
pots revealed the subtle markings of
sawdust firings. If the dog food
made a difference in the colors, it
was not immediately apparent (yet
it would be worth trying again).
Participants built the pit fire in
a common house brick enclosure
that contained the fire and eliminated the need to dig a hole in the
earth. We fueled the pit with sawdust, wood and charcoal. All types
of pots were dipped in a salt water
solution or burnished, dipped in
terra sigillata, and re-burnished,
then placed in the pit. Dog food was
added and pots were covered with
sawdust, dung, and wood, then
ignited. After the wood burned
down to reveal the pots, guests
pulled the hot pots from
the coals, sprayed them
with ferric chloride,
then applied the horse
hair.

The field day began with the
lighting of the paper kiln. Sister
Laura Winegert, resident artist at
NDA, described the construction of
the paper kiln. A layer of house
brick was laid on the grass. Sawdust
was placed on the bricks, then pots
were added and cushioned with more sawdust, vermiculite, charcoal, and cheap, dry
dog food. (The ingredients on the kibble packBeth Kendall led
age read like a glaze
the “horse hair raku”
recipe with cobalt cardemonstration. She
bonate, copper sulfate,
heated a pot in the raku
ferric sulfate, calcium,
kiln to approximately
etc., so the morsels
1600-1800°F, removed it
were added to the kiln
with tongs, and placed
along with a couple of
The paper kiln in action.
it on cotton batting to
banana peels.) After the
smoke the piece. The hot pot was
pots and fuel were added, a teepee
sprayed with ferric chloride (iron
was built from sticks of wood, then
rust) which produces browns, reds,
covered with chicken wire. Kaolinyellows, and blue tones depending
coated magazine pages (we hear
on the amount of the spray and the
National Geographic has the best
temperature of the pot. Beth then
pages) were placed on the chicken
wire; slip was brushed on with wide placed horse hair (cuttings from the
mane or tail) on the pot. As the hair
acid brushes.
burns, it produces fine black, crinkled, curved lines which yield a
Approximately 20 layers of
beautiful contrast to colors of the
paper and slip were applied to the
ferric chloride.
wire. The kiln was lit. The fuel

Mud & Fire participants experiment with a pit firing.

The results were spectacular!
The horse hair burned away, leaving
carbon markings on the pots as if
the artists had drawn squiggly lines
on them with India ink. All of the
experiments yielded good results—
even the “kiln baked beans” which
had been placed on the embers at
firing’s end to yield dinner!
Any clay that can withstand the
raku process may be used with the
“horse hair” technique. The most
beautiful pieces were dipped in a
white terra sig (see recipe on page
38) and softly burnished before firing. Caution: ferric chloride is toxic
and burning horse hair smells! We recommend a respirator, gloves, and safety
glasses. Added caution: because ferric
chloride is rust and will continue to
rust, it will corrode metal banding
wheels and sprayers—keep it away!
Several vase and bottle forms
with slip-combed decoration were
demonstrated by Jane Cullum of
Manassas Clay. Jennifer Coffin of
The Clay Connection showed how
to throw off the hump. Clay Times
technical editor Grace Lewis threw
bowls altered with carved rims.
Linda Boman of Reston, VA, discussed handbuilding and marketing. Roberta Wagner of Warrenton,
VA, shared techniques for creating
porcelain tiles with exquisite glazes.
Thanks to the success of this
year’s Mud & Fire, joint sponsors
Notre Dame Academy and Fran
Newquist of Tin Barn Pottery plan
to host a repeat performance in ’97
for more new experimental firings,
demonstrations, contests, and spirit
building. ■

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