#cachauffemarcel

Pit fire experiment #1: the whole premise of this time together in Blacksburg was that @_boxtire_ and @alexandrabarao and I would make pots in order to pit fire them, in a more “primitive” manner that we are accustomed to. At times daunting when you are really figuring it out as you go, despite all the research and thinking you may have done! Rather than dig a concave pit, we opted to use the fire ring that was already on the property, except we altered it to have three equidistant “stoking” holes. We were lucky to find local hay and wood from a nearby tree farm, and a bag of sawdust as our fuels. We first made a little fire in the pit to dry out the damp ground. We then carefully stacked bone dry greenware with hay and sawdust and twigs interlaced in every possible gap, and proceeded to starting a ring of fire around the pots which we very gradually built up to allow the pots to heat up without exploding. Eventually the fire became bigger and the embers accumulated and the flame started to lick the pots directly, as we sporadically threw in hay, sawdust, salt, and magical cookie dust. Later on the firing culminated to a raging fire with wood being carefully laid atop the pots and embers covering the stack completely. Dang it was super hot as you are way more exposed to the flames than with a wood kiln, even though this here is considered “low fire”. We quickly started protecting ourselves with long sleeved shirts, gloves and scarves. We then let the wood consume itself a bit before smothering the whole thing with a layer of sawdust, followed by a thick layer of wet hay, and then a wet blanket to cut out even more oxygen, as a reduced atmosphere in the pit should give us more interesting effects on the ware. The very last video shows a cross section of this strata. We felt pretty good about this first pit firing which was a huge learning experience and took about 7-8 hours, all abundant with a spirit of curiosity, and joy. Will share the results soon! Thanks Blacksburg and the rug boys for allowing us to try this out. #dang #cachauffemarcel #cestchaud #pitfiredpottery #pitfire #pottery #ceramics #lowfire #hay #haynowyoureanallstar #fire #ibestoking #wetblanket (at Blacksburg, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1cY7z0glDE/?igshid=1ddtn2ahq4c3g

Pit fire experiment #1: the whole premise of this time together in Blacksburg was that @_boxtire_ and @alexandrabarao and I would make pots in order to pit fire them, in a more “primitive” manner that we are accustomed to. At times daunting when you are really figuring it out as you go, despite all the research and thinking you may have done! Rather than dig a concave pit, we opted to use the fire ring that was already on the property, except we altered it to have three equidistant “stoking” holes. We were lucky to find local hay and wood from a nearby tree farm, and a bag of sawdust as our fuels. We first made a little fire in the pit to dry out the damp ground. We then carefully stacked bone dry greenware with hay and sawdust and twigs interlaced in every possible gap, and proceeded to starting a ring of fire around the pots which we very gradually built up to allow the pots to heat up without exploding. Eventually the fire became bigger and the ambers accumulated and the flame started to lick the pots directly, as we sporadically threw in hay, sawdust, salt, and magical cookie dust. Later on the firing culminated to a raging fire with wood being carefully laid atop the pots and ambers covering the stack completely. Dang it was super hot as you are way more exposed to the flames than with a wood kiln, even though this here is considered “low fire”. We quickly started protecting ourselves with long sleeved shirts, gloves and scarves. We then let the wood consume itself a bit before smothering the whole thing with a layer of sawdust, followed by a thick layer of wet hay, and then a wet blanket to cut out even more oxygen, as a reduced atmosphere in the pit should give us more interesting effects on the ware. The very last video shows a cross section of this strata. We felt pretty good about this first pit firing which was a huge learning experience and took about 7-8 hours. Will share the results soon! Thanks Blacksburg and the rug boys for allowing us to try this out. #dang #cachauffemarcel #cestchaud #pitfiredpottery #pitfire #pottery #ceramics #lowfire #hay #haynowyoureanallstar #fire #ibestoking #wetblanket (at Blacksburg, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1bj5eijVAd/?igshid=1a74x6wybcpkw