Dakota Joan is an educator, maker, and community builder. She believes in nontraditional paths into art and values wood-firing for its connection to labor and history—she cut her teeth firing wood kilns in Missouri as a studio assistant while also working as a microbiologist. She teaches workshops out of St. Petersburg, Florida, where she is a technician at the Morean Center for Clay and a studio manager at the Hive Community Clay.
In this four day train kiln workshop we’ll explore wood fire fundamentals. We are going to fire the train kiln through the lens of firing an Anagama. How can we load and fire with the goal of creating complex and ashy surfaces? Can we bring the surfaces of the firebox to the entirety of the kiln? Our discussion will cover basic woodfiring principles with an emphasis on side stoking, coal bed build/burn cycles, and firing based on audio visual cues. This cone 10 to 13 traditional shut down firing will bring out the best in sculptural forms, raw clay, flashing slips and gestural work. Our approach to learning will be inherently collaborative and encourage participants to engage in active problem solving alongside experienced guidance.
Each participant should bring enough work to fill approximately 2 cubic feet of bisque fired cone 10 work. We also encourage students to bring a few extra “stuffer” pieces that are approximately 3x2x2. These are not priority pieces, but are easy to use to fill gaps in the kiln, and can be added if there is extra space. After registration participants will receive an email with a list of cone 10 clays and any extra information on the workshop.
5 Participant Maximum
Workshop Schedule:
Day-1:
Students arrived at Oki Doki Studio at 9:30 a.m. Dakota will give an artist talk and discuss the group goals that frame the firing. The group will spend the day discussing glazing and loading strategies as they load the kiln together, and set a stoking schedule for the remaining two days of the firing.
Day-2 and 3:
Students work together during their agreed upon shifts to fire the train kiln. Learning about a variety of different stoking patterns, how to control the kiln, manage the coal bed, and how to reduction cool the kiln.
The kiln cools for 3 days after the firing. Students will return to the studio for opening day.
Day-4:
10 am students return to The Oki Doki Studio to open and unload the kiln, and have a group critique to digest the outcome of the firing. The group will clean up the kiln, and also talk about strategies for cleaning and finishing the fired work.
Learn more about Dakota here: https://www.instagram.com/transfunctional/
Dakota Joan is an educator, maker, and community builder. She believes in nontraditional paths into art and values wood-firing for its connection to labor and history—she cut her teeth firing wood kilns in Missouri as a studio assistant while also working as a microbiologist. She teaches workshops out of St. Petersburg, Florida, where she is a technician at the Morean Center for Clay and a studio manager at the Hive Community Clay.
In this four day train kiln workshop we’ll explore wood fire fundamentals. We are going to fire the train kiln through the lens of firing an Anagama. How can we load and fire with the goal of creating complex and ashy surfaces? Can we bring the surfaces of the firebox to the entirety of the kiln? Our discussion will cover basic woodfiring principles with an emphasis on side stoking, coal bed build/burn cycles, and firing based on audio visual cues. This cone 10 to 13 traditional shut down firing will bring out the best in sculptural forms, raw clay, flashing slips and gestural work. Our approach to learning will be inherently collaborative and encourage participants to engage in active problem solving alongside experienced guidance.
Each participant should bring enough work to fill approximately 2 cubic feet of bisque fired cone 10 work. We also encourage students to bring a few extra “stuffer” pieces that are approximately 3x2x2. These are not priority pieces, but are easy to use to fill gaps in the kiln, and can be added if there is extra space. After registration participants will receive an email with a list of cone 10 clays and any extra information on the workshop.
5 Participant Maximum
Workshop Schedule:
Day-1:
Students arrived at Oki Doki Studio at 9:30 a.m. Dakota will give an artist talk and discuss the group goals that frame the firing. The group will spend the day discussing glazing and loading strategies as they load the kiln together, and set a stoking schedule for the remaining two days of the firing.
Day-2 and 3:
Students work together during their agreed upon shifts to fire the train kiln. Learning about a variety of different stoking patterns, how to control the kiln, manage the coal bed, and how to reduction cool the kiln.
The kiln cools for 3 days after the firing. Students will return to the studio for opening day.
Day-4:
10 am students return to The Oki Doki Studio to open and unload the kiln, and have a group critique to digest the outcome of the firing. The group will clean up the kiln, and also talk about strategies for cleaning and finishing the fired work.
Learn more about Dakota here: https://www.instagram.com/transfunctional/
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