Kilns? They're just tools. Yeah, right. The potters I know seem to be divided into two camps. There is the analytical type who views his/her kiln merely as a tool, and whose firing approach reflects this concrete, rational, scientific approach. I have a friend like this, and he's famously methodical in his approach to his kiln and to firing it. He can fire to within less than half a cone's difference anywhere in the box. Amazing. And, like the methodical craftsman that he is, the structure of his kiln could most likely be entered into a competition and be displayed as a work of ceramic art on its own merits. The guy must have killed at LEGOs as a kid. These analytical guys chart every firing, log the temperature, the atmosphere, where the pots are loaded, even the weather of the day. The last thing they want is a surprise coming out of the kiln. They are applied science personified.
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