TH

Tim Hurn

Home Farm House
Bettiscombe
Bridport
DT6 5NU

Tel 01308 868171

tj.hurn@tiscali.co.uk

www.timhurn.co.uk

Tim has a recently re-released video on YouTube about his amazing kiln firing.
Produced by

www.realwestdorset.co.uk

1964 Born, Moseley, Birmingham

1984/7 B.A Honours Degree in Ceramics & 3D Design-Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts

1987-1988 Built and fired first wood kiln - Chislehurst, Kent

'Earth and Vision' Exhibition at Royal Society of Artists - Birmingham

Attended the International Workshop of Ceramic Art in Tokoname, Japan. Exhibited at Tokoname Ceramic Festival

Apprentice to John Leach at Muchelney Pottery, Somerset

1992 Moved to Bettiscombe, Dorset. Established workshop & built an Anagama type kiln.

2000 selected for professional 1 membership of the Craftsmen Potters Association U.K

2001 Selected for professional membership of the Devon Guild of Craftsmen

2001 Exhibited at 'Art in Clay' 7th National Pottery & Ceramics Festival, Hatfield House

'Totally Teabowls'2002 The Oak-wood Gallery, Nottingham

While I was studying ceramics at Camberwell Art School, London I used to collect shards of German and English salt glaze from the banks of the River Thames, handles, rims, lips, feet and necks of bottles, all described part of the making and firing processes involved. This is what initially drew me to salt glaze and later to wood firing. For me there is a fine line between the pot, which is waster, and the one, which has integral beauty. Wood firing, with its relatively unpredictable nature, often presents me with this dilemma. The pots, which 'speak' to me, are those that tell a story of the extreme conditions endured by wares in the very heart of the kiln, the firebox. These pots illustrate the near destructive effects of salt and 'fly ash', the ferocity of the kiln's draught & the distortion of form produced by temperatures in excess of 1300C.

After college I took part in the International workshop of ceramic Art in Tokonsame, Japan, one of the seven ancient kiln sites of the islands. While I was there I helped build and fire many different types of wood firing kilns and was inspired to build the 'Anagama’ kiln that 1 use in Bettiscombe, Dorset today. Anagama literally means 'hole in the ground'. Pots are placed on seashells or wads of clay to prevent them fusing together, where they touch, interesting scars are formed. On some pots I use simple wood ash or shino glazes but most are left to the effects of firing. It normally takes me three days to place the pots in the kiln, while packing the kiln I try to predict and control the path of the flame. Over a period of two days and nights up to four tons of wood is stoked into the firebox. A top temperature of 1300 C is maintained for about eighteen hours During this time salt is introduced and there is a constant 'rustling' of the firebox to stir up the ashes and send them melting onto the pots. Four days later the kiln is cool enough to unload and the pots can tell their story.

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