MOLINA, RAFAEL on sat 19 may 01
David:
In a previous post I acknowledged that your Freddy is a viable production
kiln at "The Old Farmhouse Pottery." However, you are in the very small
minority using this design for production in particular, as well as, a very
small minority using the kiln in general. I'm not aware of any survey of
wood kilns in use in the country (perhaps other members of the List may be
able to enlighten), but anecdotally speaking I believe this to be correct.
In light of the explosion in interest in wood-firing why do most people
choose anagamas, noborigamas, Phoenix-type updrafts, catenary arch
cross-drafts, trains, groundhogs, etc.,... instead of a Freddy?
If you look through the recent spate of books on firing in general and
wood-firing in particular such as Jack's book "Wood-fired Stoneware..." the
Freddy is noticeably absent. Moreover, if you look in catalogs of recent
exhibitions of wood-fired ceramics there are references to anagama- fired or
noborigama-fired, but I've never seen a reference to Olsen fast-fired work.
Why is this?
While it's true that the Freddy is still being used, I believe this to be
the rare exception. As I stated before I think Olsen came up with this
design as a tool to educate about the process of firing with wood.
Ciao,
Rafael
Rafael Molina, MFA
Assistant Professor of Art
Department of Music, Art, and Dance
Tarrant County College-Southeast Campus
2100 Southeast Parkway
Arlington, TX 76018-3144
(817) 515-3711
(817) 515-3189 fax
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