Experience the excitement of atmospheric saggar firing in our electric kiln with the guidance of Alison Brannen. Alison is a Toronto-based artist who is represented by Gagne Contemporary Gallery in Toronto and New York. She has exhibited in many group shows and her elegant saggar-fired work has garnered numerous awards. Visit Alison Brannen’s website to see more images of her ceramic art and for more details about her accomplishments.
Saggar firing produces interesting varied coloured and smoked surfaces indoors in an electric kiln. It is suitable for decorative pottery or sculpture that will not be fired to vitrification. This is different from raku in that the pots are not glazed. They cool partially in the kiln so they are not subjected to as much thermal shock. Consequently, any white clay is appropriate to use for this technique.
*Note that you must prepare greenware and bisque fired pots prior to the workshop as described below.
During the workshop you will wrap your own small white bisque-fired pots or sculpture in clay with slips, metallic oxides and organic material, creating a small saggar that will be fired within a large saggar, (a pot with a lid that we have already built). Alison will be giving a PowerPoint presentation on Monday morning that will be open to all guild members.
Registration is limited to 15 participants. No observers except for the Power Point presentation on Monday morning at 10 am.
DATE: Sunday, May 17 (10 am - 4 pm) / Monday May 18 (10 am - 3 pm)
COST for KPG Members and Current KPG students: $160 (early-bird registration - closes April 8); after April 8, $185.00 (Regular rate for KPG guild members and current KPG students).
COST for Non-Members: $240 (only available after early-bird member registration closes on April 8).
Prepare bisqued pots before the workshop:
Students should prepare ahead of time 2 very smooth small white BISQUE WARE pots or sculptures each dimension no larger than 5 inches. These can be burnished OR have terra sigillata applied to greenware before being bisque fired. (Alison doesn’t recommend applying terra sigillata over burnished surfaces as the sigillata chips off.) We will be wrapping and saggar firing these.
Students should also prepare ahead 2 very smooth white BONE DRY pieces (do not burnish these). We will be making and practice applying terra sigillata to these pieces. They can be fired on your own at a later date (not included in the workshop).
What to bring to the workshop? A list will be provided to those who register.
Register for the workshop on the KPG website.