I have two studios, one in Tallarook connected to mains power, this is where I have my wheel and small electric kiln.

The second studio, on our home property is where I have a second work space and woodfiring kiln.

I had always dreamed of having a woodfiring kiln, was it a dream to far? After my Asialink residency in 2012 I concluded on returning to Australia the time was right to move forward on this dream often recalling the amazement of Giri Raj Prasad and Manohar Lal at the amount of fallen timber laying unused. What type of kiln to build? My prerequisites were a kiln that was easy to fire to 1300o and a brick by brick plan. At the 2012 Adelaide Ceramic Trienniali I met women that had built and were happily firing bourry box kilns and could supply plans. The kiln was finished and fired for the fist time in early 2013. it has now been fired 50 times. I have replaced the bag wall twice and the throat arch once.

I fire to at least 1300 for at least 14 hours to ensure ash deposits melt. This is also enough to give colour to non glazed areas. It uses about 1.5 cubic metres of wood. This wood is mostly Black Wattle collected close to the studio and house. Collecting the dead timber in this area also helps towards minimizing fuel loads for the bushfire season.