More great news – I have been successful in my Arts Council funding bid to support me to attend a Masterclass in Smokeless Wood Kiln Building and Firing at the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary under the tutelage of the master of the art – Masakazu Kusakabe.It’s a three week course and use of the studios is included in the course so I expect to be completely immersed in ceramics and firing and building and meeting people from all over the world with all the different experiences and outlooks that will bring. For more information see http://www.icshu.org/2011/smokelesswoodfire/kusaka…
This course, along with the visit to the Frith’s kiln in North Wales, will give me greater expertise and confidence to support the programme of work at Manor Oaks.
Lots of really good news – things are beginning to move on apace. May 6th saw the official opening of the Manor Oaks site with special guest star Emmanuel Cooper to cut the ribbon and other activities going on across the site. Sue France of Green Estate opened proceedings with a welcome and thanks to all for the support given, followed by a speech from Paul Billington, Director of Culture and Environment at Sheffield City Council. Emmanuel Cooper spoke warmly about the importance of ceramics-focused projects for ceramicists at all stages of their career and then attempted to cut the ribbon with an extremely large pair of Sheffield forged scissors. Many attempts and several persons later the ribbon was finally cut to laughter and applause. Narrenda Bajari of Yorkshire Artspace then thanked guests and invited them to the opening night of a further exhibition at Persistence Works that evening. Beautiful refreshments were laid on by Green Estate lovingly assembled by the Manor Oaks cafe team along with bubbly and various entertainments – ceramicists from Persistence Works displayed pots in the Sheffield Wildlife Trust’s Chelsea garden display which has been transported to the site, Emilie Taylor displayed work from a community arts project she had done and the studio holders opened up for visitors with some activities to join in. In addition the cafe was serving delicious cakes and refreshments, there was a tour of the future nature garden, the Discovery Centre was open, and the resident archeologists were on hand to talk about and show local artefacts – particularly local pottery shards – we were able to see some examples of John Fox’s ware as well as older pieces. It was a beautiful day and well attended. The rain kept away – just – and it felt like the project had really begun. See the photos for a taste of what it was like.
28/5/2011
I joined Sue Mulroy for a firing in her wood kiln at Blackwell Farm Life Centre above the Derbyshire Dales. Sue built a fast fire kiln from Ray Finch’s design with help from an Arts Council Grant in 2006. A typical firing lasts around 14 hours.
We discussed methods of keeping smoke to a minimum. Sue had noticed that with care and observation it was possible to keep the kiln in reduction with no smoke from the chimney. The problem with her kiln however is that a lot of smoke escapes from the stoke holes every time wood is put on. This should not be the case with the Sasukenei, which has a vertical ‘bourry box’ fire chamber with a secondary air inlet in the roof. If we use well fitting doors, smoke loss at stoking could be prevented. Penny Withers
On May 18th Sarah and I had a meeting with Mike Brooke the architect at Green Estates. He needed information relating to the firing processes and the activities that would be carried out in the old stable block which has been allocated for the kiln. He built the information into a flow diagram, designing the space for efficiency and economy. Fortunately he already has a very impressive understanding of studio craft pottery because his father had been a potter following in the style of Bernard Leach. Our basic needs soon expanded into a full wish list.
Our next meeting put a rein on our dreams. We were joined by Sue France – Green Estates’ project manager, and Mir Jansen, who manages Yorkshire Artspace’s ceramic start-up and residency programmes. Budgets were an issue but it seems that everything is ok to go ahead and build the kiln. Work is due to start very soon on the structure of the stable block and surrounding buildings and we aim to have started on the kiln by October. This will fit in well with our expected visit to Denbigh during August. The Spring firing of the Sasukenei kiln had to be postponed because of the Frith’s visits to Japan and Europe. They are now busy preparing for ceramics fairs in June and July
