For a couple of decades I primarily made work for my wood-fired kiln, but thanks to glaze mentors Curtis Yu and Peter Avriett, I now have a palate of electric-fired glazes that I really like, especially in combination. I brush the glaze on the pots, and apply between three and six coats to get the desired effect. Compared to dipping a pot in a glaze bucket, brushing on allows much more precision, which you need in an electric firing.

Although I really love the wood-firing process, there are two advantages to electric firing. The first, of course, is the ease of the process. You press some buttons and hit “Start”, as compared to finding and managing four cords of wood per firing. The second is the frequency of firing the electric kiln, which I do about once a month on average, compared to our annual wood-firing. This allows for more frequent tests and experimentation, rather than waiting for the next annual wood firing to gain new information.