In September of 2007 my friend Lloyd Cledwyn and I traveled down to Prospect Kentucky to build Laura Ross a gas/salt down draft car kiln. This was a great stretching exercise for me. I had not designed a car kiln before, and it had been a long time since I had built a gas kiln. I ordered the burners from Mark Ward (Blatant plug) and Brick from Louisville Firebrick. We built the kiln over 6 days with the help of the greater Louisville Pottery Community. I must say I was jealous over what a vibrant energized community is in the Area. It says a lot about them that Laura Ross and Judy Miner have such supportive friends, and I felt lucky to work with such great people.

Much laughing and good problem solving occurred while Lloyd and I lead the building crew. The tapered toungue and groove seal at the botom of the kiln involved some slow and careful brick laying but the finished joint is so tight and closes with a satifying light crunch.

Laura Ross is a wonderful potter, making great functional work. It will be exciting to see how her work interacts and develops with her new kiln. I am sure she cant wait to find out.