The big burn @ Peter's valley

Soda firing results

The Big Burn with Bruce Dehnert (originally Lander, WY) and Steve Cook (San Diego, CA) at Peter's Valley Craft School.

I'll just preface this post with a short informative note: I attended The Big Burn at the end of July through the first part of August. I was there for one week, and have just now, five months later, had time to sit down and gather a few photos. I've been a hair busy :)

I would say that up until about March of this year I had no idea what craft schools were, let alone what/where Peter's Valley is. Apparently, craft schools are a big thing, and fine arts students around the country attend and intern all over to gain experience from the masters. In fact, there's even a website dedicated to the craft school experience: http://www.craftschools.us/ or https://craftcouncil.org/ for even more juicy information.

This is Peter's valley:

Now, when I think New Jersey, I think the Jersey shore because what else could be possibly there? A national park? Certainly not. Except there is, and Peter's Valley is right in the middle of it. In fact, when I got picked up from the Newark airport (90 minutes away), my ride informed me that tics are a major issue and I really needed to watch out for poison ivy. I laughed. She wasn't joking. (In the end, no tics, but I learned the hard way the importance of bug spray by being introduced to chiggers...so, there's that.) 

In any case, I stayed a week in a wonderfully historic home (seen right), and I participated in five different firings:

• Soda/salt
• Wood
• Gas
• Raku
• Pit

Soda and pit firings were completley new to me. Gas was somewhat familiar. Raku and wood I have participated in, but this was the first time I was told to fire and then, along with the other students participating, was given complete control of the process. I mean, the teachers tell you what temperature to reach or what the glaze should look like under observation or where the cone pack should be...but the responsibility of controlling and manipulating the fire and apparatus were our own tasks. We signed up for shifts, we lit the torches, and we watched in amazement as our work came to life by our own hands' design. 

So, those are just a few photos documenting the firing processes that I was able to experience, and I'll upload (soon-ish I'm sure) some images in the portfolio section of the successful pieces that made it back. Actually, of the 35+ pieces that I shipped all the way back to Wyoming, all but two made it! I desperately hope to make it back to another workshop someday. Thank you to Peter's Valley, Bruce, Steve, and the other wonderful participants that weekend!