NC Mountains Pre-Conference, May 19th-25th and 30th

They are calling it the PreHEAT of western North Carolina. In and around the Asheville area, participants and organizers of this pre-conference have assembled the region’s top woodfirers and a host of national and international guests for seven days of complete immersion into the exciting world of woodfiring. They have created an action-packed week, from May 19th-25th, of programming full of firings, exhibition receptions, demonstrations, studio tours, feasts, parties, and music, which promises to offer something special for everyone involved!

2022 NC Mountain Pre-Conference

NC Mountains Artists

Schedule

Kilns

Tickets

Accommodations

Exhibitions

Registration Pricing for PreHEAT: $275 or $225 for students

NC Mountains Pre-conference, May19th-25th and 30th

The Mountain PreHEAT is a celebration of woodfired ceramics centered around the Asheville area of Western North Carolina. The organizers of the PreHEAT have assembled the region’s top woodfirers and a host of national and international guests for seven days of complete immersion into the exciting world of woodfiring. Join us for an action packed week of programming from May 19th through the 25th, highlighted by the firing of 6 different wood kilns. Every attendee is guaranteed a total of 6 cubic feet of their own bisque ware spread throughout the various kilns. In addition to actively taking part in loading and firing the kilns, participants can also engage in a full array of exhibition receptions, demonstrations, area kiln tours, food, parties, music, general merriment, and the grand finale Clay Olympics. This event promises to offer something special for everyone involved.

All kilns will be unloaded at the various kilns after the main WoodfireNC conference on Monday May 30th starting at 10AM. All work will then be transported from the surrounding kilns to the Copus Compound by 1pm for collection by all participants.

After registration on May 19th the Mountain PreHEAT artists, invited guests, and attendees will begin loading six different kilns on May 20th, each one a distinct style, at 4 different kiln sites. Participants will get a chance to experience an array of different firing styles and see their work fired with a variety of unique effects. Participants are guaranteed to get 6 CU FT of work in the firings. That equals about 4 shelves (12” x 24”) of 9” pots OR a 22” cube. (All work for the firing should be bisqued and preferably decorated/glazed upon arrival. Limited glaze and slips will be provided at each of the kiln sites. Please direct all shipped work to 119A Roberts St Asheville NC 28801. You may bring more than the allotted 6 CU FT but we cannot guarantee it will all go in.)

When a participant is not actively involved in loading or firing one of the five kilns, there will be plenty of other opportunities to explore the rich woodfiring community of this area. Two guided tours of area woodfired potteries will allow participants a direct insight into the studio practices and kiln philosophies of our presenters.

The Mountain PreHEAT offers three full days of demonstrations by some of the field’s top makers, numerous exhibition openings, and a special land development and permaculture talk with Eric Knoche. Attendees will also get a opening night reception party with a free beverage included. The week will culminate at the Copus Compound with a Clay Olympics event, coordinated by Josh Copus and Joey Sheehan, and a woodfired pizza celebration with free beer provided by Sierra Nevada, as all three of Josh’s kilns are finished at the same time.

All participants will receive a registration email detailing information about shipping work, what to expect when you arrive, and how best to prepare for the pre-conference after you register. No transportation is provided for traveling to the various pre-conference event sites.

The WNC PreHEAT recognizes apprentices and other forms of alternative education as students. We do this in good faith that anyone signing up for the student rate is honestly and genuinely a student.

Complimentary on-site primitive camping is included at the Copus Compound and all participants are encouraged to create a festive camp vibe. Please email Josh directly at joshcopuspottery@gmail.com to be added to the camping list.

Featured Kiln Firings

Joey Sheehan/ the Golden Antelope

He calls his kiln the Golden Antelope. It is a two chamber wood burning kiln and is designed after the extended throat bourry box kilns described in Steve Harrison's book Laid Back Wood Firing. He describes the kiln as a double barrel snub nose train chamber in the front with a catenary in the back. The front chamber is nitty and gritty with a lot of ash and wood in direct contact with the pots, while the back chamber is essentially a reduction glaze chamber with some flashing. Guest Artists include: Steve Kearns, Candice Hensley, and Will Dickert

BRCC Anagama

BRCC Anagama, built Summer of 2020, 40 cubic feet This kiln was designed with flexibility and simplicity of use in mind. It has a steeply stepped floor and a large firebox, so it may be fired fairly quickly if desired, or it may be fired over a long period for heavy ash deposits. The rolling flat lid allows loading from above and eliminates the hassle of stacking a brick door. It has tightly spaced grate bars, so raking and removing coals is not necessary (cutting, hauling, and splitting wood is a lot of work, so you might as well get the full use of your material.) During loading, the sidestoke port can be moved to any point along the length of the kiln. It steeply climbs from the front of the firebox so that flames are sucked into the kiln when stoking (it is more comfortable to stoke). As far as we know, this is the only top loading flat top Anagama in the world. The work in this kiln will do better with little to no glazing. You might use a liner glaze on pots toward the front. High iron glazes like tenmoku can pool in the bottom of pots to negative effect, so shinos are preferred. We try not to use copper glazes, since they can fume other pots in the kiln. Pots may be loaded in the firebox to get crunchy, crusty, bottom of the sea type effects. In the middle of the kiln we can expect heavy flowing ash drips, so round or ovoid vessels are preferred to take advantage of the effects. Large bowls take up quite a bit of space and catch so much ash that they are typically unusable. The rear of the kiln has a very fast draft, and tightly packed cups and mugs can have dramatic flame patterns. Guest Artists include: John Cummings, Preston Tolbert, Mary Cotterman, Douglas Caulfield

University of North Carolina- Asheville Anagama

This 2 chamber anagama was built in 2021 for the ceramics program at UNC- Asheville.

The first chamber is approx. 150 cubic feet of firing space. The second, salt chamber is approx. 40 cubic feet.

This kiln was fired for the first time in early March for 87 hours with good success . We will be firing this kiln again during the Mountain preheat pre-conference.

This is a great opportunity experience this kind of wood firing. Donovan Palmquist will be leading this firing.

Josh Copus Compound

Temple (climbing or noborigama)

The Temple is a 3 chamber climbing kiln (noborigama) with 330 cubic ft. of total stacking space evenly divided amongst the 3 chambers. Designed in collaboration between Josh Copus and Will Ruggles, the Temple was built in 2007 and has been fired 38 times to date. Guest artists include: Gillian Doty, Kristen Easters, Tristan Glosby, Matt Weigleitner, Hanna Traynham, Erin-Rebecca Scott, Lindsay Bostic West, Iain Parrott, Molly Walters, Catherine White, Hamish Jackson, Denny Gerwin, Billy Ritter, James Kasper, Henry Crissman, Virginia Torrence

Josh Copus Compound

Land Shark (tube or anagama):

The Land Shark is a 19 foot long tube kiln that is essentially half land and half shark… hence the name. It has 240 cubic feet of stacking space. The whole ware platform is a flat floor from the firebox to the chimney so it is ideal for accommodating large work. There are 4 side stoke channels over the length of the kiln that create lots of opportunities for ember contact throughout the whole kiln. We generally actively fire for 72-80 hours so there is a fairly heavy amount of natural ash deposits, vapor glazing and other woodfire “effects”. Good for unglazed ceramics although it does have a lot of different zones, some of which are quiet.

Josh Copus Compound

Burrow (egg shape or anagama):

The Burrow is a 13-foot long egg shape kiln that has 120 cubic feet of stacking space and is totally buried in a hillside. It was inspired by historic kilns that were dug out of clay banks in hillsides. It is an experimental kiln and this will be it’s first firing. We plan to do a fairly fast active firing and a really long slow controlled cooling. Having never fired it, I don’t really know what to expect, although we hope to get minimal melted ash deposits and a really rich deep dark clay color.