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This video is a little bit different than most other wood firing videos. Rather than focusing on the firing, Simon Levin focuses solely on loading techniques, offering practical guidance and strategies for getting the best effects out of every firing. There’s a saying in the wood-fire community that “loading is firing.” Loading determines how well the kiln fires, affects where the heat goes, and has a direct effect on how the work looks after the firing is done. So Simon chose to share the loading techniques that he has learned over the years to help other wood firers improve their results.

Contents:
Chapter 1 - The Anagama
Chapter 2 - Papa Needs a Brand New Bag Wall
Chapter 3 - Stacked and That's a Fact: Setting the Shelf Stack
Chapter 4 - Help! I Need Somebody! Good Communication
Chapter 5 - Get Up Offa That Floor: 2nd Level and Beyond
Chapter 6 - Letting it All Hang Out - Above the Stoke Hole
Chapter 7 - Playful Loading Techniques to Extend the Possibilities

Download Bonus PDF here!

Total runtime: Approximately 1 hour, 55 minutes

Gallery

About the Author

Simon Levin

Julia Galloway Julia Galloway is a utilitarian potter, director of the School of Art and professor at the University of Montana, Missoula. Julia was born and raised in Boston. She earned her BFA at New York State College of Art & Design at Alfred University and her MFA at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Julia has exhibited across the United States, Canada, and Asia and her work is included in the collections of numerous museums including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Long Beach Art Museum in Long Beach, California. She has served on the boards of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts. To learn more about Julia, please visit www.juliagalloway.com. Simon Levin Simon Levin has been working in clay since 1990, when an elective ceramics course in college changed the direction of his life, leading to an M.A. and an M.F.A from the University of Iowa. He is a full time studio potter working exclusively with wood firing. His award winning work is exhibited internationally, and appears in several contemporary ceramic books. Simon is a writer for many ceramic journals, and in 2013 he traveled to Taiwan as a Senior Fulbright scholar researching local materials. As a kiln builder Simon has built wood fired kilns for both US colleges and universities as well as schools in Taiwan and China. Between 2005 and 2018 his apprenticeship program started has trained and influenced 17 young potters. A resident of Wisconsin for 18 years, Simon has recently moved to Pawnee, Illinois, where he is currently re-establishing his pottery. To learn more about him or see more images of his work, please visit www.simonlevin.com.
Unfamiliar with any terms in this video? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
Topics: Wood Kiln Firing, Wheel Throwing Techniques, Ceramic Kilns
CLAYflicks Testimonials

“Wow. [The Stroke and The Splash] is such an informative and helpful video. As usual, professional and well thought out demonstrations by Mr. Scott. This video alone is worth the price of my CLAYflicks membership.” -William

“I’m not a total beginner but I learned several techniques that I plan to implement.” -Kathleen

“OMG! This is fantastic! Mel [Griffin], you are such a good teacher and are so fun! I love the gestural impressions around the drawing. Mel’s tips while drawing are so helpful. Thanks, Mel!” -Beverly

“Merci beaucoup pour tout ce partage de techniques et de conseil!!! [Thank you very much for all this sharing of techniques and advice!!!]” -Suarez

“Great. I love it. So much to learn in a short and beautifully presented clip.” -ADI

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“The videos are an excellent way to bring out more creativity that I feel I sometimes lack. Love, love, love watching and learning from such patient teachers in the videos” -anonymous

“Thank you very much for this tutorial. Sam [Scott]’s instructions and considerations are so generous and obviously developed through a lot of experience. I really appreciate how explains the “why” of his various processes.” -Kathleen

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“All together charming!” -TG, Arizona

“Worth every penny! Lots of great “small gifts” of technique and details of finishing a piece to make it look professionally done.” -MB, South Carolina

“Keep on doing what you’re doing with encouraging a variety of ceramic artists to share their knowledge via your video productions…and I’ll keep enjoying & adding to my library of your videos. You’re doing great!” -KIB. Washington

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“The level of difficulty in the video was what I expected, and then some. Some was a challenge which is what I wanted. I wanted to learn something completely new and this was the perfect answer.” -KHB, California

“Very inspiring. Techniques were demonstrated clearly. I’ve already incorporated some of them in my work.” -Angela. NY

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