Stoking the Beast at Eye of the Dog

My Introduction to the Ancient Art of Wood Fire

Over the past few weeks, I took part in the wood fire at my studio—Eye of the Dog—here in San Marcos. It was my first time, and even though I felt like a total newb, the experience did not disappoint. Between obligations at school and home, I’m not as mired in the studio culture as I’d like to be, but getting to be even a small part of it was still incredible. I only had a few pieces in the kiln, so I wasn’t as heavily invested as the artists who drove from all over Texas to participate, but it was a blast to be part of a community coming together to do something so ancient and massive. The energy was positive and life-affirming, and the end result was so unexpected.

Unlike the electric kilns I usually use—which are self-contained and take about 24 hours start-to-finish with no labor involved other than loading and unloading—wood firing is intense. It’s a labor-heavy process where wood is the sole fuel, pushing the kiln to temperatures over 2300°F. The idea that “it takes a village” is literal here. There are months of prep work and dozens of volunteers involved. To finish off the 800 or so pieces in the kiln, it’s a multi-day, around-the-clock marathon with teams stoking the fire in shifts. Many people use high-fire glazes, but some don’t use glaze at all and leave the work to the elements. The fire carries ash through the kiln, which lands on the pots and melts into a natural, unpredictable, “flame-kissed” glaze. (One of my pots at unload is all the way to the right.)

I jumped in for a workday where we cleaned up and prepped literal pounds of clay wadding—tiny balls of clay that sit under every single piece in the kiln. Then, I helped with the final day of loading, which ended with us sealing the brick kiln with a heavy iron lid. Finally, I caught the last night of the firing. There’s a specific kind of exhaustion and exhilaration that comes with it; it’s the kind of experience that makes you want to be a part of something so pure and honest forever—everyone gleefully tipsy from black smoke, no sleep, and camaraderie, the end in sight.

Seeing all the pieces unloaded is a real “Christmas morning” moment, with everyone mooning over each other’s work. The joy is palpable. Collective hard work and passion manifested into a physical thing you can touch and hold in your hand. It was an honor to watch this group—young and old alike—pull together to bring this thing to life. I hope to get in on the next one—to fully buy in, create more pots, and invest more deeply in the process. Gawd! If only I had another lifetime to fully engage in all the things!

Honestly, it’s incredible what humans can create when they put their minds and talents to it. One of the leads, artist Frank Zhu, says it on his Insta way more eloquently than I ever could. Check it out!