Jamey Biggs

Princeton, West Virginia, USA

Title: Small Vase

Year of Creation: 2009

Glaze: Val Cushing's Red Flash Shino

Clay Body: Matt Long's Porcelain

Dimensions: Height 9.5 inches, Width 4 inches

Artist's Statement: I am at the beginning of my exploration with wood firing. I have gathered from others that I may feel that way until the end of my career. The experience of wood firing is not one I would describe as "fun". The experience hits all the highs and lows of my personality and has more in common with "addition" or "obsession" rather than something described as "fun". The process is absolutely thrilling! I am awed by the range of emotional experience the process elicits from the participants.

This vase was positioned just in front of a side stoke area on its side. I applied a thin wash of Val Cushing's Shino to help melt the massive amounts of ash this vase was exposed to. It was buried in coals and the coals were allowed to burn down, raising the temperature and melting the ash from the coals. This was repeated several times during the forty hour firing to produce the running and dripping ash.