Open Directory - Shopping: Crafts: Ceramic Art and Pottery: Woodfired

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This category is for sites selling Woodfired pottery

Non-commercial sites displaying artwork or pottery or offering information about the craft should be suggested to Arts/Crafts/Ceramic_Art_and_Pottery. Sites that focus on the manufacture or distribution of ceramics products would be suggested to Business/.../Ceramics.

Sites listed here must be available in English. Otherwise, please suggest the site to the most appropriate (based on the language) category in World.

This category is for sites selling Woodfired pottery.

Wood firing remains a lengthy, labor intensive process. Depending on a number of factors--kiln size, desired temperature, and system of delivery--a firing may take twelve to thirty-six hours

The Japanese are famous for their wood-fired pottery, fired in an anagama (a single-chamber, tunnel-shaped kiln) or a noborigama (a multi-chamber kiln). The use of these wood-fired kilns has spread worldwide.

These specialized wood firings can take up to a week to complete. The fire is started with tiny pieces of wood and the kiln is stoked every five minutes. When the kiln becomes hot, large pieces of pottery are added at regular intervals. The fire is kept burning 24 hours a day for several days until the clay has matured. The kiln is left to cool for several more days—if it is opened too soon, the pots will crack and break. Because it is so labor-intensive, potters who use these kilns often fire only once a year. They save up an entire years work, perhaps hundreds of pots, for one firing.

Most wood-fired pottery doesn't have a glaze. As the fire gets hotter, drafts pull wood ash through the kiln where it is deposited on the pots. The pots are so hot from the flames (they glow red like charcoals in a barbecue) that the ash melts on the clay and creates its own glaze. The patterns produced are unpredictable.

Open Directory Arts: Crafts: Ceramic Art and Pottery: Techniques and Styles: Woodfired