COLUMBIA

Canadian Woodfiring: Train Kilns Woodfiring Part 3, by Keith Rice-Jones

he Train Kiln was originally designed by John Neeley of Utah

State University, based on ideas from Japanese kilns. It creates

natural ash deposits similar to those from an Anagama kiln.
‘The lid of the kiln can be as simple as kiln shelves with insulation on
top. This means that the lid comes right off, making it easy to load and
relatively easy to fire. Pieces are often piled one on top of another—
or tumble stacked—and wadding is used between them. ‘The resist
marks and surrounding flashing become part of the aesthetic, leaving
interesting surface variations.

Lynne Johnson and Maeva Collins are friends in Courtenay and
both now have train kilns. Lynne had always admired Japanese pots,
especially the Bizen style, after she studied in Tokaname in 1993. After
a kiln workshop at Utah State, she built her own train kiln from a
motley assortment of salvaged bricks. It has done, and continues to
do, sterling service. Lynne uses tumble or totem stacking as much as
possible. The firings are usually about 36 or 40 hours from start-up to
shut-down and use about 21 or 22 cords of wood.

Lynne likes to fire-down or reduction cool using a high iron clay
body for the Bizen look. Even when she’s not firing this iron clay
body she will still use this technique, sometimes varying the length of
time of reduction cooling for different effects. You can check out the
January 2005 newsletter for a longer article on Lynne’s kiln.

After firing some work in Lynne’s kiln, Maeva got hooked on the
anticipation and excitement that came with it. Her Cone 6 electric
kiln just wasn’t enough anymore. In 2006, she built her own train
kiln, and a very handsome thing it is! She and Lynne continue to fire
with each other along with Maeva's husband, two daughters, sons-in-
law and grandson—a wonderful family experience. This experience
plus the surprise of the unexpected, the thrill of opening the kiln and
savouring each pot, is what keeps Maeva woodfiring!

Another pair of train kiln potters, Jinny Whitehead and Pia Sillem,
both live in downtown Vancouver and so they have to travel to their
kiln. For years, they have been firing in Washington State, initially in
an Anagama run by Steve Sauer and more recently in a train kiln
owned by Al Tennant. Currently, the pair are building their own
train kiln on a 26-acre wooded site on the Sunshine Coast. The
plans are based on a design by Judith Duff. A three-hour trip to the
kiln makes for slow progress but they have had lots of offers of
help. Jan Lovewell and Ron Robb from Powell River have been
there on many work parties, and even
Jinny’s 91-year-old mother couldnt
resist laying a few bricks!

Jinny particularly likes to incorp-
orate movement into her work. The
swaying of the trees in the wind and
the ebb and flow of the ocean on the
shore are factors that influence her
work. Living close to the water's edge,
seeing the mountains every day, and
walking in deep forests, she is inspired
by a richness of forms, shapes and. tex-
tures. It is probably because of that re-
lationship with nature that she enjoys

constructing vessels that transport the

La Sylphide, by Jinny
Whitehead.

natural work into an urban living space.

Jinny and Pia’s train kiln, a work in progress.

‘This series of articles on Canadian Woodfiring is an extension of
material that I presented at the Sturt 2008 International Woodfiring
Conference in Australia. It is interesting to note that one of the key
presenters, Sandy Lockwood, who ran a salt glazing workshop and
firing at the conference at her own studio, uses a train kiln as one
of her two woodfired kilns. If you Google Sandy Lockwood, below
her own site listing there is information about her kilns and work in
extracts from books by both Phil Rogers and Coll Minogue. Also she
is part of www.sidestoke.com which is an excellent site on Australian
woodfiring run by Arthur Rosser.

shadbolt centre:

Winter 2009 Ceramic Programs
Call Shadbolt Centre at 604.291.6864, or register online:
www.burnaby.ca/webreg Spaces are still available in:

Big, Bold, Beautiful Pots
$155.96, 8 sessions, 10am-1pm
Sa (Jay MacLennan), starts
Jan. 17. Barcode 175159.

Clay as a

Sculptural Medium
$179.57, 8 sessions, 7-10pm

M (Debra Sloan), starts Jan. 17.
Barcode 174944.

Work by Fredi Rahn.

Tips and Techniques in
Clay Construction
$155.95, 8 sessions, 7-10pm
Th (Fredi Rahn), starts Jan. 22.
Barcode 175160.

Continuing Pottery
$155.95, 8 sessions, 7-LOpm
T (Rosemary Amon) starts
Jan. 20. Barcode 174911.

Please note: The Owen Rye workshops have been cancelled
due to the instructor’s unavailability. Replacement workshop:

Wood/Soda Firing Workshop

$212.10/$180.08 senior, 4 sessions, times vary

Th/F/Sa/W (Linda Doherty & Jay MacLennan), starts Mar. 26.
Barcode 181162. Please note: regular refund policy does not apply.
No refunds after Feb. 15th, 2009.

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter : December 2008