In- Person

“In French the art of pottery is often referred to as “L’art du grand feu” (the art of the large fire). I like this name, for it contains in it an intuition of the awe, the fate and even the fear that potters develop as they work with this element in the final stage of forming an object. When it comes to firing our work we are no longer (if we ever were ) singly in control. Although we may come to know our kilns and their fuels well, learn to speak to them, to use their unique potentials, we can never seem to learn it all; the mystery continue and adds color to the act. “ - Paulus Berensohn from Finding One’s Way With Clay

This weekend is built around that relationship. You'll learn the real, hands-on skill of high-fire gas firing: how to read a kiln, when and how to make an adjustment, what different choices call forth in the fire itself. But the skill is also the vehicle. Learning to listen and attune to fire, to notice what it's asking for and respond, is its own creative practice, one that builds the same capacities we build at the wheel or the coiling table: presence, trust, the willingness to work with something larger than your own plan.

We keep this group small and intimate, few enough that everyone gets real hands-on time at the kiln, not just watching from a distance. You'll load, you'll stoke, you'll make the calls that shape a good fire, alongside others doing the same. This kind of access is hard to come by, and this workshop holds a particular welcome for anyone who has felt passed over for it.

By the end of the weekend, your own pieces will be fired, marked by an element that has its own say in how they turn out. You'll leave with a new relationship: to fire, to your own capacity to work with the unknown, and to the small community who tended this fire together with you.

As potter and author Paulus Berensohn writes of firing, it is a fine paradox: we work for vision and control, and still meet a fire whose events are unique, unpredictable, and often more revealing than anything we planned.

Level: Intermediate (some prior clay experience needed)

Group size: Small and intimate (limited spots)

Details: Participants provide their own cone 10 bisque-fired, glazed pieces. Firing cost for 2 cubic feet is included in registration.

When: Opening Online Session - Friday, October 13, 5 - 5:45 pm PT
Firing Schedule:
Saturday, Jan 16: Load the kiln, 10 am until finished (estimate 3pm)
(Option to join for kiln lighting 8-9 pm)
Sunday, Jan 17: Firing day, 8:30am until finished (approximately 8 hours)
Saturday, Jan 23: Unload the kiln, 10am until finished (estimate 1 pm)

Where: Erin McGuiness’ Studio, 2547 8th Street, #33 Berkeley, CA

Fee - $400 (Includes firing cost of 2 cubic feet)

Please contact Erin if scholarship is needed