Smoke-fired
A collection of work that draws inspiration from the landscapes and geology around North Wales. Curves and hollows that appear on a piece echo the undulations of a hillside, a round seed pod, or a water-eroded stone. Each piece is fired using the ancient method of outdoor smoke firing, used both to fire raw clay into durable ceramic and to decorate it with smoke. (This method of firing can be found historically in ceramic communities across the world and is still practised with immense skill and generational knowledge in many places, including New Mexico, India, and West Africa.)
Decoration comes from the treatment of the clay and the smoke-firing process, rather than commercial glazes and oxides, which are extremely hard to trace. Fuel for the outdoor smoke firings is sourced from garden cuttings, a local tree surgeon, and a local woodworking studio specialising in traditional timber framing. Each object is finished with olive oil or a natural sealant produced in North Wales. Rhodes favours this firing process for the way it allows burnishing techniques, fine clay slips, and the firing itself to create finish on a piece, in place of untraceable oxides and glazes.
Type: Collection
Location: North Wales
Date: 2022-2023
Material: Iron-rich clay manufactered by Potclays using 100% UK-sourced raw materials, olive oil and beeswax
Location: North Wales
Date: 2022-2023
Material: Iron-rich clay manufactered by Potclays using 100% UK-sourced raw materials, olive oil and beeswax
