Burnin Sawdust

Most of the molds have now had enough coats, and days of watching dungmix slowly drying in front of the fan has led to the possibility of firing and getting an end result. In a previous post I had mentioned how I enjoy processes that can produce results quickly, and I had likened this body of work to that statement. On reflection I realise that this belief is the opposite of what is actually true. My work almost always involves some kind of slow, repetitive labour that can result in something quite small and understated, or even hidden away in a material. So, the only quick aspect of this project has been the evolving forms made by the card discs. The rest – mixing, coating and drying many layers of dungmix, and now firing, require lots of patience and long evenings!

So we set up the kiln today. This is an open-topped steel oil drum. Six inches of sawdust is layered in the base, then a couple of molds, more sawdust to cover (avoiding the molds touching the edge of the drum), more molds, and more sawdust to the top. I then built a kindling and newspaper structure on top, took out a lighter and began a prolonged but fruitless attempt to create fire (the rain didn’t help). Cue Eden and a propane torch, and things got a lot hotter. The idea is to let the fire slowly smolder over 24 – 36 hours. So far it has been four hours, and the drum isn’t too hot any more. Do I poke around inside for heat, or remain patient and wait? I’ll give it an hour or so!

With only a week and a bit left, I’m getting slightly apprehensive about the forms burning out ok. I‘ve already snapped one of the longer molds by picking it up wrongly, before even the fire could get at it!