The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 49 No 1 April 2010

Focus: Wood -Firing
life, there IS a new restnction I hadn't
encountered much in Sydney - the
awareness of fire in the landscape.
Wood-fire potters are accustomed to
adjusting their firing times to suit the
Australian climate, which means firings
tend to be concentrated during the
winter months and avoided during
hot dry summer periods, commonJy
times of total fire bans. In recent years,
however, the summer period has been
encroaching into months previously
assumed to be of low fire danger. As a
member of our local rural fire brigade,
I spent a weekend in August 2009
protecting properties from a major
fire on the NSW South Coast. The
conditions were termed 'unseasonable'.
It's only August, we said, as hot dry
winds pushed the spectacular yet
eerie fireworks up into the night sky
and toward a series of coastal towns.
Since then the onset of summer has
brought more waves of unseasonably
high temperatures across the country,
with accompanying fires. Warnings of
the newly categorised 'catastrophic' fire
danger level, meant to apply to very
rare conditions, have been issued on
numerous occasions.
I avoid firing my kiln during the hot
windy weather of total fire ban days,
partly out of respect for my neighbours
and the law, and also because those
conditions make it uncomfortable to be
working around a hot kiln. Increasingly,
I'm finding that the year is divided
between cooler seasons when I work
creatively with fire in my kiln, and
warmer times when as a property owner
and volunteer firefighter, I'm involved
in preventing or suppressing fires in the
landscape. This duality has given me a
broader understanding of fire behaviour.
Gail Nichols. Cloud Nine. vase. 2009
soda vapour glaze, stoneware
h.30cm, w. 13cm, d.13cm; photo: Michel Brouet
THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS APRIL 2010 33