High School

Mr. Ted Book's 2022/23 Ceramics and Sculpture class recently created pottery on the potter’s wheel and then finished the work using an alternative firing process. Students placed materials such as banana peels, corn husks, rust, horse hair and other disposable materials on a piece of aluminum foil. The pottery was then wrapped in the aluminum foil so that the disposable materials would remain close to the pottery. The pottery was then placed in an old metal drum with other combustibles such as wood shavings, newspaper, and scrap wood. These materials were lit on fire and allowed to burn for about 30 minutes to increase the temperature of the pottery and materials. A lid was then placed over the metal drum to reduce the oxygen to the fire causing the clay to pull from the materials around it to create the colorants on the surface of the pottery. Each piece came out uniquely colored without the use of glazes or stains.