The book of low-fire ceramics

In the past, "art pottery" or sculpture was associated more with large factories or companies than with the individuals who did the work. But in the 1950s and 1960s, many people working in clay, particularly those artists now labeled "abstract expressionists," made the transition from "pots" to "objects," helping to establish ceramics as a recognized and recognizable art form. The use of low-fire techniques became a popular method of furthering that objectification and blurring the memory of clay as a utilitarian medium. It opened the door to a more painterly approach to ceramics by offering the ceramicist a broad and intense palette of colors and highly predictable results. Low-fire ceramics has developed very rapidly at the studio level, in conjunction with a highly sophisticated approach to form and decoration. The advantages of low-fire as opposed to high-fire are considerable from a practical point of view. There is the obvious reduction in fuel consumption-it takes less energy to reach lower temperatures. In addition, the space and mechanical requirements for setting up a low-fire studio are much less than for a high-fire studio. The low temperatures can be reached with electric kilns easily set up in home basements or garages. The gas kilns usually required to reach high temperatures, particularly for reduction firing, entail all sorts of plumbing, venting, regulatory permits, and basically, a home of their own.