| Pitfire is the most ancient clay firing process known to humans - most cultures have a version of pitfire somewhere in their pottery past. Simply - it is burying the pots in or under various combustible materials (wood, branches, leaves,dry dung, whatever) and having a major BBQ (bonfire) above the pots.
In ancient times this made the pots hard and thus more useful. Today it is simply for aesthetics - to make them pretty! It's a rough process - tough on the clay. The finished pieces will often be chipped or cracked - but with characteristics of the fire and trauma etched into the surface (and into their souls . . . ). The end result is often ancient looking -roughly beautiful, earthy and exquisite.
First of all - I throw cool, interesting shapes - I like elegant forms, sinuous lines and a feeling of volume for the vessels. Then, I take this humble ancient pitfire path and "push the hell out of it" - that is - for color and effect. My pitfire colors - their intensity and drama - are seldom matched and I have yet to see better... (sounds immodest, yes - but true!!)
First - you’ve got to get a horse to back up really close to the kiln - a trick in itself! OK, not really - the hair is already off the horse - although I suspect that a potter (Native American, as the story goes) bent over a bit too far and discovered the process in an unfortuante hair-singeing accident. Horsehairing has not been around so long - and, since all such definitions are subjective, it is definable as modern American RAKU depending on how you define modern American RAKU - Be that as it may, the technique is easy in concept but a bit trickier in practice - you must heat the pottery to the right degree (somewhere over 1000 fahrenheit) and then discern the coolness of the day and how fast you can “artistically” apply horse tail hair to the piece - getting it all the way around in an attractive fashion. Too hot and the hair will smoke the piece too much causing a muddy look - too cold and - very little or nothing is left for markings. You have between 20 and 45 seconds to do the job well depending on the temperature of the day, the thickness of the piece (heat retention), the wind and so on. Doing this inside is out of the question - this stuff STINKS! :-) If you don’t like the results - like with RAKU and PITFIRE, you can risk additional attempts sometimes with the result of having more “pieces” of the pieces than you intended. Any quick burning material can leave marks and patterns - feathers do well - but the horsehair seems to have the right balance of fat and protein to burn in this nice carbon-y way while the clay body shrinks and absorbs the lovely squiggles.
At the end of the day - when all is said and done, my happiest moments are almost always throwing pots - I love the physical pleasure and demands of the wheel and making the forms. As much as I do adore fire and the pitfire especially, it's the throwing that "feeds" me - I also deeply appreciate a well glazed piece of pottery - glazing being a whole other magnificent art by which I am humbled. But for me - it's the throwing. I think basically I'm an adult 8 year old coming home from the oh-so-fascinating muddy creeks of my youth after the rains with water-filled boots and inches of mud - everywhere! Years ago - in the 90's - on an extended stay in Italy and Sicily, I watched as the Italians struggled to afford to save and restore what is, in the case of Palermo and other such cities - an overwhelming task of decaying history. One morning I watched as a work crew on the island of Ortegia - city of Siracusa - was sandblasting clean an old carved facade, seeing the once sharply defined reliefs and sculptures emerge softened and distorted...and I started wondering what I could do with a sandblaster and my pottery...
There are numerous techniques I have developed as a result - in the case of "Serene Sand", the pottery is thrown, trimmed and stabilized as best I can (to tolerate the blast of air and sand) and then immediately sandblasted! - the sand attacks the surface both pitting it and impregnating the wet clay - the resulting texture is really cool! You've got to do this carefully to not literally blow the freshly-made wet clay piece away! Then after some short drying for more stabilizing, I put the piece back on the wheel and carve patterns and holes down into the clay body removing the sand - what's left is a wonderful relief surface of sand and designs. The piece is then dried and special stains are applied in various ways - then it is fired and finally additional decorative accents and finishing touches are added before a final protective coat is applied - and voila!
In this variation, the pottery is thrown, trimmed and dried. I then mask up, protective glasses and all - and crank up the air compressor (not so romantic, but wait!.....). The blasting sand does delicious things to the surfaces of the clay- you can texture, and then wear holes and shapes in the surface. The resulting effects are really cool! A whole different piece of pottery emerges - organic, something of the earth yet with such refined overall structure - the contrasting impressions are wonderous! The process is time consuming- to create a textural "theme" and then do the whole pot. I then apply the terra sig for the pitfire and/or tints to enhance the whole effect. I love it! (hope you do too...) As I mentioned, this is a time consuming process so Neuvo Archeologico pieces are a bit more expensive - like the mosaic, these intriguing effects take considerably more effort.
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