Portrait of a Kiln : John Link
John Link
Orlando/Cocoa Beach, Florida
Woodfired Kiln
I think the saying goes “when life gives you lemons, build a kiln”. No, I'm kidding, but there are really only two reasons why this kiln was built: I was given a ton of free bricks and I like torturous physical activity. If I didn't come by the free bricks by chance I would most likely not have built a kiln to this day. Secondly, I built the kiln out of curiosity and wanting to figure things out for myself. We have so much access to information and so many opinions on how to do things “correctly”, but at the end of the day I just wanted to explore what it was to build a kiln and then fire it without any external input.
Aside from chance and the curiosity to try building a kiln, I will admit the results were not grandiose but I did at least achieve getting the fire department called on me and learned I cannot stay awake for more than two and a half days straight. Through the experiences of building this kiln and figuring things out the long way I can say that these experiences have opened doors to many more reasons why I will continue to explore and build kilns, no matter how torturous it may be.