About
How a kiln got a name.
FIG. 03 · Unloading
FIG. 04 · First firing
Dorothy came from a studio that was downsizing. They’d outgrown the space, not the kiln.
I hauled her home in the bed of a pickup truck. Strapped down, driven slowly, checked at every stop.
Somewhere on that drive I looked back through the cab window and laughed. Squat, round and strapped into a truck bed, she was the spitting image of Dorothy, the radar pod the storm chasers drive into the tornado in Twister (1996). Same shape. Same built-to-survive-the-storm energy.
The name stuck before she was unloaded.
Now she lives in Bloomfield, and she’s the largest rental kiln in Prince Edward County by a wide margin. That size is the point. There are good small kilns nearby. There wasn’t a place to fire a production run without driving to Kingston.
So that’s what this is. A big, well-kept kiln, run carefully, for potters who need the room.
ERIK RUBADEAU · BLOOMFIELD, ON
The studio
One kiln, two ways to use her.
01 / COMMUNITY
The last weekend of every month, the kiln fills with work from several artists. You book shelf space and pay only for what you use.
02 / FULL KILN
Any other day, you can take her outright. One artist, one load, your cone and your schedule (with 48 hours’ notice).
The instrument
Cone Art 4227D
Three zones are controlled separately, so the top of the load fires like the bottom. She’s roughly six times the size of the next rental kiln in the County.
- CHAMBER
- 16.5 cu ft
- ZONES
- 3
- TURNAROUND
- 24–48 h
- LEVELS
- 3 × 26" oval
Next community firing
Full kiln rentals need 48 hours’ notice.