Our Pit Fire  started on May 28, 2025, with the loading and firing of the pit. Some photos of the event are below (note - they're not in strict chronological order). A blessing was given by CAC's own Darryla Green, and the text of that is shown underneath the photos, so ​keep scrolling down.

May 29, 2024: [see photos below]
​​First we bring out the prepared ceramic pieces that have been collected in the studio, placing them all around the pit (which has already been covered with a layer of wood shavings), after which they are very carefully loaded into the pit by the Pit Fire Master and one assistant.

Then all around the pieces salt & copper carbonate are sprinkled. Next everything is covered with dry seaweed, then dried cowpies, then small pieces of kindling wood. Scrunched up newspaper is tucked around the kindling and a layer of firewood is placed on top of the whole load. Finally more kindling is added over everything.

After that everybody climbs out of the pit and a set of heavy metal pipes are placed over the entire pit. The entire Pit Fire Team gathers around and a blessing is given prior to lighting the pit on fire.

May 29, continued: [see photos below]
​The entire area surrounding the pit has been well watered down and the Pit Fire Safety team is in place, armed with a hose and 3 fire extinguishers, as seen in the first 2 photos below. (This is preventative - everything goes well and none of the fire extinguishers are necessary.)

Members of the Pit Fire Team squirt charcoal lighter fluid over the whole shebang and then they set the pit on fire using long torches made of rolled-up newspaper. As soon as it flames, all of the people move out of the fenced-in Pit Fire area and watch from the side.

After 2+ hours, when the flames are banked and the pit is simply smoldering, the pit is covered with long sheets of metal. This means that the pieces in the pit are in a reduction atmosphere, which produces many of the most beautiful effects as far as surface color and sheen. We then leave the pit for another day and half, letting everything settle and completely cool down.

May 31, 2024: [see photos below]
The pit is totally cool in the morning when we uncover it: first the metal sheets, then the metal pipes are removed. The Pit Fire Master and one assistant once more climb into the pit, then carefully remove the fired pieces from the ashes. When that is done, another member of the Pit Fire Team rakes the remaining ashes for anything small which may have been left behind.

Other members of the Pit Fire Team place the fired ceramics on carts and wheel them to the back side of the Ceramic Studio. They are unloaded onto tables covered with newspaper.

Members claim their pieces and clean them. shaking off all of the ashes and other detritus. People wander around, admiring the results of the Pit Fire - both their own and those of everyone else. There are lots of beautiful pots, beads & sculptures to!

After a while, a potluck lunch is set out and everybody eats and celebrates a most successful Pit Fire! It's been quite a journey.. sigh.

[Note: most of the photos posted here are courtesy of CAC member Fred Surh; some are from other CAC members. Thanks to everyone who contributed!]

​We loaded & fired the pit on Wednesday, September 14. This was after months of preparation, including two classes on Pit Fire Techniques and several teams of CAC members going out to collect seaweed and dried cow pies (among other things). Shown below is the preparation of the pit and subsequent loading of our pieces (many of them wrapped in newspaper) into the pit.

John Terlip is currently the CAC member with a Featured Artist display in one of our studio's windows. The pots are beautiful and unique and have sparked a lot of interest. They will be there through June 10, when all of the window displays are to be changed. Hope you have the chance to see them!

Shown here - the pit on Friday May 11, when it was about to be unloaded. [Thanks are due to Ralph Atkins, a friend of CAC, who took all of the pictures below.]

And here are some photos of what came out of that pit - interesting things, beautiful colors! (See our previous post for more photos from this year's Pit Fire.)

It was great! Wednesday May 9 was a beautiful day and the loading of the pit went very well.. see below. (Note: the photos are NOT in chronological order.)

Be sure to keep on scrolling down for pictures of the firing. then the unloading, plus some of the results of the Pit Fire. Also, more of the pieces will be shown in a future post, so stay tuned!

Okay - the firing of the pit was next. This is always dramatic! It happened around noon to 1:30 pm.

Unloading of the pit was done two days later, on Friday May 11 (first picture below). It was like an excellent archeological dig! And here are some of the results, right after everything was unloaded. Lots of nice color, and most people were quite happy!

We had a very busy September & October, gearing up for the Fall Bazaar that happened on November 4, 2017. It was a very good one, with lots of enthusiastic helpers working hard while having fun, and tons of wonderful ceramic pottery & sculpture to sell. And in the process we had record sales to benefit the club - a win-win! There are still a number of wonderful ceramic pieces for sale, so if you are in the area stop into our studio and check them out.

Below are some photos from the last few months (before the Bazaar). Included are: folks at our Show & Tell sessions, artwork that was sold at the Bazaar, unloading the Pit Fired pieces, and CAC artists looking at the pit fired work. Never a dull moment! (See previous entry below for more on the September Pit Fire.)

Our annual PIT FIRE was loaded and fired on May 10, then unloaded on May 12. It was a wonderful experience, led by Patty Taylor and Barb English, with help from Darryla Green and many other CAC members. Here are a few of the photos taken by various folks - most are from May 10; the last two are from the 12th, featuring the unloading and some of the results. To see more, check out the current display of beautiful Pit-Fired peices in the Ceramic Studio's windows (through June 18).

Last Wednesday (April 26) the Ceramic Arts Studio was alive with joyous sights and sounds as it hosted Brownie Troop # 32662 from Danville - all third graders.They were accompanied by their leaders. The girls were inquisitive, excited and curious, filling the room with chatter.  After a tour of the studio facilities, they settled in to work on making clay tiles.  They were intensely engaged in the process, each one decorating her tile using stamps, textures and flora and whatever else sparked her imagination.  Afterwards the leftover clay was quickly turned into vases, cubes, a beard, rings, faces and other expressions of their joyous creativity. Finally they picked out the colors they wanted their tiles to be glazed.  Volunteers from the Ceramic Arts Club will fire and glaze them, and the tiles will be returned to the Brownies at a later date.
            This experience at the Ceramic Arts Studio will help the Brownies to earn a merit badge. It was a fun time enjoyed by the entire troop and the CAC club members as well.

The Pit Fire is looming - May 10 is the date. Then we'll unload two days later, on May 12, and have a potluck lunch afterwards, to celebrate. We had our second & final class on Pit Fire preparations with Jane Burton last Thursday (see below). Now the (post-bisque) Pit Fire materials are set out on one of the tables in the main room of our studio, for all CAC members to use. Gotta get everything ready!

We had our first "mini Pit Fire" last week, loading and firing on Oct 5 and unloading Oct 7. It went very well, thanks to the efforts of our wonderfully dedicated Pit Fire leaders, Patty & Barb, as well as numerous other volunteers (notably Darryla, Helen & Judy J.) Below are some pictures of the first day's process, i.e., the loading and firing of the pit.

Please scroll down for more photos of the unloading and the results. (Note: Patty & Darryla are the masked women in the pit, on both days.)

OK, here's the next part of the process - unloading the fire pit very carefully 2 days after the firing.

We had some beautiful results - CAC folks were very happy for the most part! (Of course there were some disappointments, including a few broken pieces - but that's the nature of this type of firing.) NOTE: some of the best pieces are being featured in the October display windows, so come by and check them out if you can!