Artigianati.com

Ceramic artist Mo Gary, center, carries her newly fired sculpture from the Clay Studio of Missoula’s wood-fire kiln Sunday afternoon. “This is the most awesome firing we have ever done,” says Gary. “The stuff we are pulling out has taken my breath away.” Photo by LINDA THOMPSON/Missoulian

In the woods west of Missoula, the forest echoed with a wild chorus of oohs and aahs and other joyful whoops Sunday afternoon.

What sounded like a party was in fact a celebration of artists who had eagerly waited for the opening of the Clay Studio of Missoula's wood-fire kiln.
For six days the giant walk-in oven burned steadily, thanks to a crew of hardy souls who stoked the fire in three shifts a day, covering all 24 hours, so the kiln would burn at a steady 2,400 degrees.

Inside the inferno, more than a thousand pieces of art created by 22 community artists - all students and members of the Clay Studio.

Those treasures could not be seen again until eight days after the firing - when the kiln would be cool enough and safe enough to re-enter.....

Read more at -  http://www.missoulian.com/news/local/article_44966736-ccf8-11de-9639-001cc4c03286.html