The Kiln Update
AKA: Potters who aren’t named Harry
It’s been nearly three months since my husband, Joe, and I went to the kiln roof-raising at my Asehville Potter son’s place, where Joe joined the work crew and I cooked for them. Joe’s been back to help a second time. So has our friend Karl, who snapped this photo of the results of the roof raising, which I documented by way of videos on Youtube HERE. The material for the roof came from the old house on the property that my son, Josh, tore down and salvaged for parts.
Lots of back-to-back work days, hard labor, and sacrifice have gone into building this kiln. Josh worked from morning to night for weeks at a time. Friends and fellow potters (like Matt Jacobs pictured here) came out to lend their bodies and hands.
Josh (pictured here) and other potters at the ClaySpace Coop in Asheville (founded by Josh in 2003 along with fellow members Matt Jacobs and Sean Fairbridge) are making new pots to be the first fired in the new kiln, which is called The Community Temple. It’s a wood burning, three chamber climbing kiln that is 27 feet long, with a stacking space of 260 cubic feet. Check it out and click around on the new ClaySpace webpage HERE. Josh still plans to put together a personal website when construction slows down.
Before the roof went up, the kiln site looked like a Mayan ruin with a tarp hung over it, or an archeological dig. Later it began to take on a mythological look, reminiscent of the building of a megalithic stone structure or ancient pyramid.
A kiln always remind me of the oven that Hansel and Gretel pushed the witch into, and woodfiring is like a “Where the Wild Things Are” fairytale that involves staying up all night and fire alchemy.
The irony that bricks are made of fired clay and that a kiln is a construction for firing clay that is built largely of bricks is not lost on me.
Soon Joe and I will be traveling back to Josh’s place in Madison County, NC, to dedicate the kiln for its first woodfiring. I imagine in this case the dedication will involve the smashing of a bottle of a beer, rather than the traditional champagne against the brick structure, because although Josh currently lives in an Airstream trailer called The Land Yacht, he’s more of a Pabst Blue Ribbon man than a champagne one.
August 25th, 2007 12:25 pm
Wow, that is some impressive kiln building work – and an impressive looking kiln too!
August 25th, 2007 2:04 pm
i love the way its shaping keep posting progress.
August 25th, 2007 4:04 pm
What a wonderful creation!
August 25th, 2007 6:15 pm
I think his first creation should be ceramic beer stein mugs
michele would probably agree
August 25th, 2007 11:42 pm
I love the support of community and family that is making the kiln a reality. I hope the world never loses this sense of cohesiveness.
Airstream…happy sigh!
BTW, I’ve linked this comment to my new work blog. Hope you’ll come by and see what I look like when I write geek!
Dropped in from Michele’s tonight to wish you a happy tuck-in.
August 26th, 2007 1:36 pm
FABULOUS! It has come a long way, hasn’t it Colleen…Oh I hope you plan to document this FIRST FIRING..This is such a fantastic thing that Josh has been doing and is still doing…I LOVE the idea of it….! Very Very Exciting, Colleen…!
August 26th, 2007 6:41 pm
This is by far an amazing feat!!! What a boy/man!!
I like his beard.
August 27th, 2007 2:11 pm
i’m amazed at josh’s drive and motivation. what an awesome project!
i’ll have to let my bro-in-law know about it next time he’s in the states, as they usually stay with my parents in NC. he’d love to go take a look, dabbling potter that he is.
there was an open house at josh’s studio last time i was at my parent’s, but i wasn’t able to go. maybe next time….
August 27th, 2007 3:33 pm
When we were there for the roof raising several people had driven out to witness the project (one from out of state). It’s a pretty monumental undertaking and something to see!
August 27th, 2007 8:20 pm
Truly amazing and impressive.
August 27th, 2007 10:26 pm
What came first the “bricks” or the “kiln”?
August 27th, 2007 10:35 pm
That’s a brain teaser, Bob. In this case the bricks came first. In the case of the kiln that fired the bricks that were used in the building of this kiln, the kiln came first.
August 30th, 2007 11:39 am
She is a beauty and look forward to seeing in the future! Answer to brain teaser-
Ancient history says that first there was fire,that hardened clay. Then clay was pinched into bowls or placed inside grass baskets to dry and fired in an open fire. Bricks were made on, or around a building site from a clay vein that could be found as near as possible. The bricks were fashioned by hand. A woodbox mold became the first inovation of mass production. The bricks were air dried and were used to make their own kiln. This was called a scove kiln, in England. The main firemouths weremade over large dead trees that were laid in place. Small fires were lit outside of the firemouths to slowly start the firing,then adding more wood as the large trees burned down to bring the kiln to temperature. The bricks were laid up in a fashion that the heat flowed up thru the pile and had exits or flues at the corners on top the scove. The block of bricks {kiln} was mudded, like stucco all around and on top. As you can imagine this took a geat deal of skill. These men traveled like masons and carpenters until they probaly found a good source of clay and a triving new community that needed lots of bricks. Also within the kiln you had a variety of hardnesses of finished bricks. Of course the best was used for building the main structures but the overfired but good were used on side walks and retaining walls. Softer bricks were used as fillers between walls or on the inside were they would put up lath to plaster.
August 30th, 2007 12:30 pm
Thanks for the history lesson, Carter! Now what about the chicken and the egg?
P.S. Carter, you can click on the category sidebar “Asheville Potter son” to read more about the kiln and Josh’s involvement with wild clay. Or here: http://looseleafnotes.com/notes/asheville_potter_son/
September 1st, 2007 11:39 pm
Ah, this is all very exciting and inspiring! Tomorrow I am cleaning out what is to become my studio space in order to get my divine mojo on! I wish I could be there to see Josh’s first firing. Firing a kiln is so empowering and mystifying and mesmerizing all at the same time. Take lots of photos so I can live vicariously through you!
(I loved Floyd, btw… such an interesting little town with so much culture packed into such a small space. I can see why you like it there!)
October 1st, 2007 12:55 pm
i talked with josh and he said they were firing the kiln again last weekend, do you have any pics of the firing
maynrd
October 1st, 2007 10:23 pm
Not yet, Maynard, but I’m hoping to so an update soon. Thanks for dropping by.
June 28th, 2015 11:50 pm
[…] The House That Josh Unbuilt, marks the start of Josh’s land development, which started in 2007. HERE’S one from another monumental work day during the building of the first kiln, Community Temple, and […]