Exhibit of Wood-Fired Ceramic Art Featuring Kilns of the Pacific NW

March 28, 2012 - PRLog -- This exhibit featuring twelve wood-firing ceramic kilns of the Pacific Northwest, specifically Washington, Idaho and Oregon, is a fascinating survey of the increasing specialization of tool-making to serve the artists’ purpose.  Kiln-firing technology has been in use for five thousand years out of necessity, but only now is the design and construction of kilns that burn wood as their fuel source a careful creative choice.  History and tradition have informed research; now the movement has spread around the world, enjoying a revolutionary role in the creative process.  This exhibit organized by the director of Pots Gallery in Fremont aims at sharing the intricacies of kiln design and firing method in conjunction with the work that is produced by the kiln.  Visitors may experience directly the raw and subtle beauty of clay’s trial by fire, in which teams of people may be involved in feeding a blinding-hot kiln constantly for days with enough wood to fill an entire garage.  Harnessing this awesome force and directing the flame to very specific effects is an alchemical process requiring a mastery of purely technical knowledge in addition to an intuitive sense of the kiln’s mood.  Whether fired for subtle flame-flashed mark or craggy encrusted ash texture, the zen-like synergy between potter and kiln is evident in the work featured in this show.

This show is in conjunction with the NCECA Conference and other shows by POTS Gallery and will be accessible by shuttle loop from the Convention Center.

Some kilns featured in this show are designed to force a maximum amount of contact between days of flame-borne ashes and the curves of vessels.  Some are designed to be fired quickly by two students in one day.  One kiln innovates the use of recycled vegetable oil to super-charge the wood coals.  Some are buttressed by carefully positioned boulders, making the kiln itself a gorgeous sculptural object.  One was built in a silo, another was picked up and moved.  Some sit quietly in a forest on acres of private land, some are uncomfortably close to the neighbor’s house.  Many have been modified or completely rebuilt, each action requiring a team of many hard workers.  Some are bright and new, some have been fired hundreds of times.  All of them have huge personalities, with names to match, and doubtless reflective of the character of their owners or designers.  Many were designed and built by their owners.  Many owners replicated or modified designs of time-tested kilns.  Sometimes the availability of bricks played a major role in the design, leading to round walls with domed roofs or chimneys shared with other kilns.  It’s a startling array, and each one was made in a certain way so as to answer to the needs of the work to be fired.  Tactile and functional pots?  Impressive jars?  Sculptural forms of art and/or Zen?  Along with work from these kiln owners and their crew is a sampling of work from some of the elders of the wood-firing community: Eric Nelsen, Al Tennant, Don Reitz and Frank Boyden who have spent a lifetime expressing themselves with stone and fire.

Hours Open During NCECA Conference:
      March 26/27/28, Monday to Wednesday: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
      March 29/30, Thursday and Friday: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm
      March 31, Saturday (Closing Day): 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

3509 Fremont Ave North, Seattle, WA  98103

www.potsgallery.com