In the first heatwave of the summer, artists from around the world gathered throughout New England to fire their clay creations in special wood-fired kilns as a part of the New England Wood Firing Conference. They'll meet in Connecticut this weekend to share their finished works, swap pieces and learn more about the craft.
In preparation, approximately 25 people crowded around a massive wood-fired kiln in conference founder Trevor Youngberg’s backyard earlier this week. While the temperature stood near 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Woodbridge, the kiln was reaching its peak temperature, containing air that was thousands of degrees hotter.
“We do a lot of looking in the kiln and judging the temperature by color,” explained Youngberg. “You progress from black to red to orange to yellow to white heat.”
Nozomu Shinohara, a potter from Shigaraki, Japan, pulled from an enormous pile of chopped wood and threw pieces into an opening in the kiln, the inside glowing white-hot.
The crowd, which included all ages of potters who traveled from North Carolina, Ohio, Norway and more for the conference, cheered when Shinohara finished piling the wood in. They had just completed the process of getting the kiln to its highest temperature, a round-the-clock process that lasted five days.
According to Youngberg, firing pottery is a complicated process from start to finish, with plenty of room for personalization and error. The artist prepares and shapes the clay —that’s the part everyone knows about. But someone also has to chop all the wood for the kiln, and every piece has to be meticulously arranged inside.
“There are about 1000 pots in there, and the flame travels from one end to the other,” said Youngberg. How tightly each section of the kiln is packed influences air flow, which is information that Youngberg shares like he’s describing a symphony.
“So [it’s about] just getting understanding of that flow of the flame and what it needs to thrive,” he said. “We can only have so much control. But kind of like in life, you're going to get what you get and have a positive mindset.”
Youngberg is a pottery teacher at Trumbull High School. It took him more than a decade to build this setup; multiple wood-fired kilns, barns, and sheds in the back of his property. He became a potter in college, and has been taking slow, steadfast steps to ensure he could make his own pottery from start to finish. He took a job framing houses in Minnesota directly after college to learn carpentry, and he worked as a horticultural potter to learn more about landscaping – all with the belief that down the line, puzzle pieces would align to let him create his kiln yard.
Just like his trust in the process when he fires pottery, Youngberg said he trusted the conference would come together as a result of his efforts.
“When I first started pottery, I wanted to do it because I didn't want to depend on others for my own success. But then, as soon as you start wood firing, you need folks. And it’s not just that you need them to do work, you need their ideas. Everybody has a different superpower.”
Potter Nozomu Shinohara from Shigaraki, Japan usually creates alone, but while he’s visiting, he said he loves to share the passion.
“This [kind of] event never happens in Japan,” he said. Fellow potter Namiko Kato translated from Japanese to English. A lot of people get together here and it's a very precious venue… This is the joy of [my] life. Some people think, 'Oh, I love gambling,' or 'I like doing my hobby.' But this is the time [I] think, 'Oh, I'm so glad I'm alive.'"
Paige Hellems and Jenna Martin came to Connecticut from Pennsylvania and are camping in Youngberg’s backyard for the duration of the conference. The two graduated from Bowling Green State University in Ohio in the spring.
“It is a strange time to be entering the workforce, I guess. But the community is what drives it, I think,” said Martin. “We might not have the funding, but the more people that we meet, the more opportunities for kilns.”
Hellems pointed out that much of the materials used in Youngberg’s kiln yard are donated, including the wood used for fuel, which gets dropped off by local arborists. She said coming to the conference has made her feel more hopeful about her own future as an artist.
“So many people have kilns here and need help firing them. One kiln could just lead you to the next, could lead you to the next… I feel like it's very rich in experience.”
Youngberg is always setting new goals. This year is only the second iteration of the conference, and he says he’s already excited for the next, which he plans to host in 2027.
“I found early on that I set goals that I feel may be borderline unachievable, then all of a sudden, you're there, and then it's just another door to another chapter,” he said. “So it just continues to become more and more exciting and fulfilling.
Whether the pot comes out almost perfect or covered in cracks, these potters learn lessons from every firing.
The final day of the New England Wood Firing Conference is Saturday, June 28, offering a pottery tailgate and firing finale in Woodbridge, Conn.
