Wood Fire Workshop

Important note: this workshop meets multiple times over several weeks - check full schedule to ensure that you can attend all required dates. 

Registration for this workshop is limited to advanced students registered for a Fall 2025 course at the Ceramics Program, Office of the Arts at Harvard. Previous experience with wood or soda firing is helpful.

Wood-fired pieces are exquisitely beautiful, as the flame and atmosphere create visual depth and subtle variations. Depending on the work, type of kiln, and firing style, you can get a myriad of results that tell the history of each piece in relation to the flame and atmosphere.

Work will be fired in a  Train Kiln in Canton, Connecticut during the weekend of November 11 – 16, 2025. All clay, slips, and glazes must be for cone 10 and above.  Students are encouraged to participate in the firing, and carpooling is encouraged. 

The fee for cubic inches for work fired in the Canton kilns is included in the registration fee.  

Workshop topics

• Brief overview of wood firing and how form, slips, glazes, wadding, and placement in the kiln may produce different results in design, texture and surface. Review of our studio clays, slips, glazes, and wadding for wood firing.
• Pointers to historical references.
• Experience firing a Train Kiln.
• Group review of the fired work and cleaning up the ware. 

Participation Requirement 

You must participate in at least one loading or firing session to have work included in the firing. Please check your schedule carefully before registering to ensure you can fulfill these requirements.

Space Limitations

While we make every effort to accommodate a variety of work by each participant in the workshop, the size of the kiln limits what can be fired. We cannot guarantee that every piece you produce for the workshop will be included in the firing.