It was a thrill to be involved in the firing of a salt kiln again. Jackie turned on the kiln early in the morning, in fact Jackie did almost all the work. She wanted us to see how she makes the best use of her kiln. We provided the items to be salt fired and were happy to leave Jackie to make her considered decisions about how to get the best results from this, the 9th firing of her kiln. Apart from the work by the five of us workshop participants we were able to persuade Jackie to squeeze in just a few of her pieces. We were happy to note that a few pieces by her Capilano mentor Sam Kwan, left from a firing of lots of his pots a while ago, were included.
While the temperature in the kiln was rising to cone 9 over the course of the day Jackie offered to demonstrate how she throws her distinctive forms, with Bmix clay.
Elizabeth wanted to drive the short distance into Lund for supplies and I asked to accompany her. I was keen to explore the hamlet. We headed for Nancy’s Bakery which is well-known for its gigantic cinnamon buns but before buying a possible lunch we spotted a sign for ‘Rare Earth Pottery’ nearby. We walked along the boardwalk and followed the signs up a flight of steps to a road above, and another, and found potter Jan Lovewell holding the fort in the showroom she shares with her husband and fellow potter Ron Robb. When tourists aren’t around the charming space reverts to being a pottery studio. Elizabeth and I thoroughly enjoyed our visit with the pair, and hearing about how they used to live on Okeover Arm but couldn’t build their longed-for wood kiln. When moving to Lund and wondering how to make use of the bricks they’d acquired, Pia Sillem and Jinny Whitehead invited them to share in the building and use of a kiln on Pia’s property some miles south (and a ferry trip) near Earl’s Cove. So a couple of times a year the pair take their wheel-thrown and hand-built wares down there to join others to fire the wood kiln. Otherwise their rattles and ocarinas are raku-fired in the adjacent area where Ron has his separate studio.
http://rareearthpottery.ca/about-rare-earth/
Thank you for our time with you, Jan and Ron, for the lift back down to Lund, and for the beaker and mug we brought back to use in Tidal Art Centre and take home. It was nice to see the pair stop by for the opening of the salt kiln three days later.
When we returned to TAC the group was already eating lunch. We missed the first demonstration but in the afternoon Jackie continued with more throwing and then assembling the morning’s pieces.
Later on I opted to take a walk that the others had recommended. I followed the road, which quickly became gravel, further north and then back around to follow the coast on the out-side of the Finn Bay peninsula. The sun was out, temp was just right and I found Diver’s Rock almost at the end of the road. It’s a steep but somewhat maintained scramble down to some smooth rocks, arbutus trees, cavorting chipmunks and a view West of the strait of Georgia, Savary and Cortez Islands and in the distance Vancouver Island. Bliss!
Supper time was also time to start salting so we opted to take a table outside the kiln shed and eat between saltings. Our easy meal was cold turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce brought by Elizabeth, salads and carrot cake and pineapple!
Introducing salt in one pound doses on a fat halved bamboo stick, in each of two front peep holes, five times, for a total of ten pounds, didn’t seem to take long at all. We put the salt in, quickly doused the stick in a deep barrel of water and left the salt to swoosh through the kiln for ten minutes. Then there were ten minutes of clearing before adding the next dose. Towards the end Jackie had us remove just two draw rings. She was happy with the melt so after ten pounds we stopped salting, cleared the air and by about 10pm the kiln was turned off. Cone 11 was soft.
Then we had to wait until the following Tuesday morning to open the kiln ie all day Sunday and Monday!
