earth, wood and fire

8/10/2019 Earth, Wood and Fire

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I found working with my handsand with clay to be an intenselytherapeutic antidote to academicresearch and became hooked

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H7cm 7Teabowl, stoneware, black slip,2013, H9cm

8Bottle, stoneware, shinoglaze, 2013, H20cm 9Teabowl,stoneware, nuka glaze, porcelain slip,2013, H9cm 10Opening the anagamakiln at Phantassie Farm, near Dunbar,May 2012

1Dish, stoneware, porcelain slip, 2013,25cm

2Bowl, porcelain, 2013, 28cm3Bowl, porcelain, 2013, 28cm 4Bowl,porcelain, 2013, 22cm

5Bowl,stoneware, celadon glaze, 2013, H16cm6Mug, stoneware, shino glaze, 2013,

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Earth, Wood, FireGiles Sutherlandreveals the inspirationbehind, construction of, and firingschedule for Philip Revellsanagama kiln.

Philip Revell is a man of multiple talents. As a research studentof engineering (a profession that he went on to work in for anumber of years) at Warwick University in the 1980s, he metDavid Jones. Jones, who now lectures at WolverhamptonUniversity and is author of a number of titles on raku and firingtechniques, had set up a pottery studio on a farm on the edge ofthe Warwick campus. It was here that Revell got his first taste ofpotting: I found working with my hands and with clay to be an

intensely therapeutic antidote to academic research and becamehooked, he says.

Revell came to engineering through an interest in the Small is

Beautiful philosophy as espoused by E F Schumacher(1911-1977).After returning from working with farmers in Zimbabwe, Revellspent time at the Centre for Alternative Technology in mid-Wales.It was here that he set up his first pottery workshop.

FINDING PHANTASSIE Since 1990Revell has operated his potteryfrom the basement of an elegant Georgian townhouse in Dunbar,near Edinburgh. The flagstone floor, range, pantries, and otheroriginal fittings somehow seem an appropriate place for such aventure. The sprays of elemental clay, the kickwheels, and the kilnall chime with the simplicity, harmony, and solidity of the surroundings.

Near the beginning of the new millennium, Revell beganorganising a number of projects at Pishwanton Wood, anexperimental bio-dynamic land management centre based on

Goethean principles that nature is a seamless whole, that ourinner life is part of the outer world in the Lammermuir Hills.


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These included the building of a wood-fired, two-chamber,noborigama climbing kiln, so-called because they are traditionally

built on slopes with each chamber higher than the one before.After leaving Pishwanton to set up the environmental organisationSustaining Dunbar, Revell began to develop the idea of buildinga kiln nearer to his pottery. Eventually he found a site at (thewonderfully-named!) Phantassie, an organic smallholding, ideallyplaced only a few miles away and with a ready supply of slabwoodfrom the on-site sawmill.

KILN CONSTRUCTION Revell used the recycled materials from hisPishwanton kiln to construct a simpler anagama kiln. This nameis a Japanese term meaning cave kiln and probably alludes to howthe first types of the structure were created. In this instance, becauseof the vagaries of the Scottish climate, Revell began by building asimple, open wooden shelter under which the anagama kiln was

assembled. Starting with cement slabs on a hard-core base, he usedhigh alumina firebrick, high temperature insulating brick, and amixture of locally dug clay, sand, and sawdust for insulation tocomplete the elongated, curving structure.

Revells kiln, which he built in his spare time in the eveningsand at weekends, took about a year to complete. It was built to hisown design with a fire-box in the front, and extra stoke holes alongits three-metre length, which allow for the creation of additional

Inspiration for the design came fromphotographs and drawings of otherkilns, especially those of potters JohnButler, Svend Bayer, and the latePatrick Sargent

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fly ash. Inspiration for the design came from photographs anddrawings of other kilns, especially those of potters John Butler,

Svend Bayer, and the late Patrick Sargent (1956-1998). Revellexplains, I was getting a little bored and was keen to build anew kiln with the potential for more extreme wood-fire effectson the fired pots a design that encouraged more ash to fly throughthe kiln during firing.

FUNCTIONAL AESTHETIC To date the kiln has yielded someimpressive results. Revells pots have clean lines and a no-nonsense,functional aesthetic. His mugs often curve inward from the baseand then outward towards the rim. The handles are broad androomy, allowing the thumb to rest comfortably and afford easytipping while drinking. These are complemented by capacious, butelegant, teapots, which are balanced and pour well with the aid of

11Pine off-cuts for the anagama kiln atPhantassie Farm, near Dunbar, May 201212Philip Revell opening the anagama kilnat Phantassie Farm, near Dunbar, May 2012

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handles that have space for three fingers while allowing the thumbto sit on top. Revells plates have a similar, well-made solidity withbroad bases and a shallow lip. He also makes jugs, bowls, pitchers,and larger garden pottery, such as plant holders.

As a largely self-taught potter I find the attempt to master themany facets of this exacting and technical craft to be an ongoingchallenge, which is what keeps me at it. Apart from the physicalchallenge of throwing and manipulating clay, there is also the needto develop an appreciation of form, to understand the raw materialsthat can make up a clay body or create a glaze, to experience howthese materials interact and are transformed by fire, he comments.

FIRING & GLAZING The process of loading the kiln is, in itself, atime-consuming and skillful business. Space is at premium and caremust be taken to allow the flames to seek out all areas of the kilnunimpeded. Revell uses a series of spy holes through which he cancheck on a series of cones that indicate appropriate temperatures. Theoptimum firing temperature for the kiln, stoked with softwood, is

around 1340C. The entire process of loading, firing, cooling, andunloading takes many days and the potter must be present formuch of this.

Revell fires his kiln based on the reduction principle. This meansthat the oxygen supply is restricted by blocking up the intakes withbricks, resulting in a saturation of free carbons in the atmosphere,mostly in the form of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Becausethe fire needs oxygen to burn, the flames seek oxygen within theclay and glaze. Reduction firing combined with the wood-flameand ash can bring out a wide range of colours from the clay body,from black through purple to orange, pink, and red.

The fire-box is situated at the front end of the kiln with the

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chimney at the far end. The forced draught from the chimneycreates a current of hot gases and flame that move between the pots,carrying a quantity of fly ash from the wood fire with them. It isthe current of burning gases and fly ash, heated to full temperatureand settling on the pots, which forms the patterning on the pottery.

Revell uses glazes on the areas that are least likely to be affectedby fly ash and flashing. He uses celadon and nuka wood ash glazes the former comprises wood ash, felspar, and clay in a 4:2:1ratio.The nuka mimics a straw ash glaze by adding quartz to a woodash/felspar glaze, with clay, in a 3:3:3:1ratio. The nuka gives aglossy white glaze with a tinge of blue where it works well. Revellalso uses a simple shino glaze, made up of ten parts nephelinesyenite to four parts clay.

ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY Perhaps the most nerve-wracking part ofany potters business is the process of opening and unloading thekiln. With Revells anagama kiln, the anticipation is augmentedby the experimental nature of the undertaking. As the bricks are

removed to reveal the fire-box, the first pieces are removed, stillhot and using gloves. On one of the first pots removed from thefront of the kiln there is clearly a line of blue-ish glaze along therim of the bowl. On the left area there are clear signs of burningcaused by the current of flame, smoke, and gases one of theeffects of reduction. The bowl is therefore a witness not only tothe potters hand and eye, but also to the complex chemistryand physics within the kiln itself. Flames and gases have createdpatterning and tonality, dictated by their passage around thecontours of the vessel. An ancient technology is able to provideunpredictable, beautiful, and unexpected results while still keepingsome of its secrets intact.

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13, 14Philip Revell opening the anagamakiln at Phantassie Farm, near Dunbar, May2012 Photography (excluding images 1-9)Giles Sutherland


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Giles Sutherlandhas been a freelancewriter for more than twenty years. Hecontributes to UK and US newspapers andmagazines, is currently Art Critic for TheTimesin Scotland, and is a doctoralcandidate at Duncan of JordanstoneCollege of Art and Design

StockistsBuy Design Galley, near Jedburgh,Scottish Borders (www.buydesigngallery.com); Revell also sells direct from his studioEmail [email protected]

FIRING SCHEDULE FOR THE PHANTASSIE ANAGAMA KILN

Pre-heat, ten hours or so, to get the front of thekiln up to about 300C and ensure everything isthoroughly dry. Gently raise the temperature to about 900C at thefront over the next twelve hours, then start side-stokingto raise the temperature at the back of the kiln. Gradually raise the temperature to about 1000C overthe next three to four hours. Start stoking more frequently and restrict the airinlets as necessary to ensure heavy reduction as thetemperature is gradually raised to 1340C over the next

twelve hours, side-stoking at intervals to bring the backof the kiln up to temperature (in practice the kiln willmove in and out of reduction continuously each timewood is stoked and the pyrometer readings are not aparticularly accurate indication of actual temperature). Continue stoking and side-stoking to maintain thekiln at this temperature for fourteen hours or more,maintaining a light reduction for as much of the timeas possible and aiming for cone 11to be completelyover at all five spy holes along the length of the kiln,top, and bottom. Start reduction cooling close the chimney damperand air inlets completely and occasionally stoke withvery green wood and spray water into the fire-box asnecessary to maintain reduction as the kiln cools toabout 1050C. This takes about four hours. (The waterreacts with the charcoal in the fire-box [in the water-gas-reaction] to create carbon monoxide and hydrogen,creating a strongly reducing atmosphere.) Open the chimney damper slightly and crash cool inoxidation to about 900C. Close damper and all air inlets and leave tocool natural ly.

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An ancient technology is still able toprovide unpredictable, beautiful,and unexpected results

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earth, wood and fire

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