R-5 art students are learning about ancient pottery by using experimental outdoor kilns.
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Gallatin R-5 ceramics students studying under the direction of Wade Smith have a better appreciation of ancient pottery techniques after using experimental outdoor kilns last Friday during a class project. The kilns were made of old magazines formed in the shape of a teepee and brushed with an overlay of slip (watered down clay) in order to retain heat and smoke to bake the clay positioned inside.
Students selected and provided a variety of materials to realize glazing colors and patterns. Some of the materials used included banana peelings, dog food, cow manure, sawdust and salt — each providing differences in the final product.
“Compared to modern technology, this is a very primitive method of firing clay,” says Mr. Smith. “You won’t get the coloration that modern glazes offer, but you do gain insight about how primitive people and Indians worked with pottery.”
Smith notes that certain applications of primitive ceramic firing are still commercially viable. He mentioned that a Mexican artist known as Maria does a manure firing that turns clay body totally black. The pottery is in demand, and an example was noticed by his students when the ceramics class recently toured 3B Silversmiths in Gallatin.
The ceramics class normally uses one large electric kiln for classroom projects. Smith says outdoor kilns are economical when compared to electric kilns normally operated indoors. Outdoor kilns also allow for the use of salts and other materials that would create corrosive problems indoors. He has plans to construct a larger outdoor kiln using a metal barrel modified with an interior grill.
Mr. Smith has a degree in glass forming, which has numerous applications in the making of pottery. Both glass forming and pottery are artworks of three dimensions and made by using gravity to center techniques. The class is proving popular at Gallatin High after its first offering last year. Enrollment this year was limited to seniors due to the large number of students expressing interest.
Smith says his ceramics students are enthusiastic and fun to teach. Pottery made by the ceramics students will be exhibited during the annual spring art show.