The St. Augagama

It all started when…

Rooted in the discovery of porcelain in Jingdezhen, China, kilns have been fired with wood for millennia. Originally, the accumulation of wood ash was undesirable and something to be avoided. As time has progressed and techniques have changed, combinations of clay and ash have been found to create their own glaze at high temperatures for extended time. In a single firing, we fire for approximately 80 hours consuming just shy of 4 cords of wood to take advantage of the accumulation of ash-glaze.

Firing Flyer

Three SWS Woodfire Plates fired upside down and raw in the front stack.

Our Clay

We use a blend of local St. Johns County clays and a commercially mixed recipe of our own. This porcelaneous recipe was developed from research I conducted in grad school based on a CoorsTek analysis of the local clay I was harvesting in western Kansas. It’s a cream-firing, highly plastic throwing body, with a small percentage of fine grog added to lend some tooth. The high silica content in the body facilitates ash accumulation and performs exceptionally well in fly ash and sodium atmospheres. The local clay, glazed with locally harvested wood ash and seawater from the bay makes each work intimately connected to this place.

Clay Body Reference Guide

Two SWS Woodfire Clay Jars from the inaugural firing, back of the first step.

Built in 2024 and derived from the Japanese tradition of an Anagama (translating to “Cave Kiln”) style of firing, the St. Augagama is approximately 20 feet long with an interior stacking space of 140 cubic feet in the main chamber. With a firebox on the east end and chimney on the west, the ash from the burning wood is drawn through the pottery and deposited onto the surface of the ware. This creates the glaze layer through the fluxing power of the ash on the silica in the clay. A unique feature of our kiln is a secondary ‘sutema” chamber between the main chamber and the chimney. This second chamber acts as an after-burner and combusts any remaining smoke in the effluent making the kiln overall a smokeless wood kiln! An added feature of the sutema chamber is the ability to treat it as an entirely separate atmosphere. This allows us to salt the kiln with an application of seawater from the bay while the kiln is at top temperature.

SWS Woodfire Clay tumbler from the front shelf about halfway up the stack. Fired “raw” without glaze or slip.

Planning Your Visit

Studio glazes are provided as a part of your registration fee. Left to Right: Phil’s White Gloss, TM Green Celadon, Strasser’s Orange, S.E.P. Tenmoku, Gustin’s Shino, and S.E.P. Pewter. All glaze tests on SWS Woodfire Clay at cone 10 in the back of the Anagama.
Note: If you plan to use the celadon, please use a porcelain clay. On stoneware it can be muddy/grey.

Registration: Kiln space is based on cubic footage and pricing options range from $30/cubic foot - $80/cubic foot depending on how much you plan on helping around the kiln site. At ALL levels of registration, the materials necessary to have a successful firing are provided included wadding, glazes, borrowed safety gear, and even 6 meals! Images of our glazes are at left.

As you plan your work and begin to be familiarize yourselves with how the glazes perform, making work for all regions of the kiln is the best way of ensuring successes. Raw, sturdy work for the front of the kiln and more delicate/functional glazed ware for the back.

Cubic Footage: Speaking of planning your work, I know some folks are new to woodfire and the term “cubic foot” is slightly more subjective than it might seem. One cubic foot is not a stack of bisqueware plates nested neatly within one another. It is a cubic foot of space inside the kiln including shelves and wadding.

At left is a stick-frame cubic foot as an example. The one jar pretty much fills the volume or I might fit two layers of four-five tumblers with a shelf between.

At the heart of the challenge is good design practice. Look at the work you already make and then analyze the negative space around it. See if you can make something authentic that fills that void. There are many shelves for 4.5” work, 7” work, and 9” work, and a handful of floor spots for 13”-24” work.

Family Forward

We love hosting artists and their families at out kiln and have complied the following information to help you have an enjoyable time at Smith Works Studios and Saint Augustine as a whole.

We actively guard and advocate for the joy of our children through the varied events of our studio practice. Along with that comes a warm welcome to our participants' families as we celebrate the familial support of artists and their work. When planning to participate in any of the studio offerings, please consider bringing your family and reaching out to brainstorm ways to best involve them!

Activities

During the cooling week, if you choose to stay in town, there are a host of opportunities available.

At least one day will be a tour of local artist studios. Details will be available at the start of each firing.

We have a small fleet of kayaks that may be borrowed and taken out in the numerous waterways in the area. Also, we highly recommend visiting the local beaches (which you can DRIVE on if you have 4x4) and parking at the studio for the 5 minute walk to downtown.

Below are links to suggested activities/attractions:

Recommended Restaurants: