For most potters and ceramists, the uniformity of the oven is a priority criterion. It is essential in particular for the reproducibility of enamels, so sensitive to the differences of a few degrees of temperature and to the chemical atmospheres in the room.
In my case, it is quite the opposite. I give carte blanche to my four to create the eyelet of my sculptures.
For this I help him as best I can. Technologically, this oven must be unique, because it has burners of different technologies (induced air and forced air), which makes it possible to modify and disturb the circulation of flame and to create reducing or oxidizing spaces in the room during ” the same cooking.
The result, after many adventures, is most often very significant. The surprises that my oven, this artist, me, are more and more often “good surprises”, and regrettable accidents become more rare.
It must be said that I take a lot of risks, in particular by putting fragile sculptures in four, and by presenting strong inhomogeneity of thicknesses and dimensions. Thin arms connected in two points to a solid mass represent a challenge, since the contractions of the earth necessarily occur at different times depending on the temperature. They will always lag behind the massive parties that heat up more slowly internally, and the fine parties will have to tolerate the tension while waiting to regain their balance at the end of cooking.