Tye River Pottery will be hosting an international conference May 30 – June 1, 2008.  The conference will be an opportunity to hear eight internationally renowned wood-fire potters discuss their experience firing together.  The following potters will be on the panel: Robert Compton, Kevin Crowe, Stephen Driver, Vicki Hansen, Mark Hewitt, Micki Schloessingk, and Jack Troy.  The conference agenda also includes plenty of time for informal networking and Q&A.  Tye River Pottery's kiln will be open for informal tours after the conference on Sunday afternoon.

Kevin Crowe of the Tye River Pottery in Amherst, Virginia, has invited this unique team of experienced wood-fire potters to fire his combination anagama-noborigama kiln. This crew of experienced potters will gather at Tye River in mid-May.  They will devise a firing strategy that builds upon their own proven methods but also challenges their expectations, follows hunches, and expands personal horizons. Then they'll fire Crowe's kiln for five full days.  This will be an unprecedented opportunity for these professional potters to collaborate with their own peers, and teach and support one another as they take risks with their work.

Two weeks after the firing, up to 130 potters from around the country will convene at Sweet Briar College for a weekend conference retreat where they will hear the crew members debrief the firing and discuss possibilities based on its results.  This firing crew's debriefing will be a starting point for discussions on all aspects of wood firing, everything from exploring surfaces, stacking and stacking patterns, kinds of wood used, markets, past and future for wood fired work, kiln designs, community kilns, and what wood firing might look like in the future in the next generation's hands. While the presenters' comments will be the focus of the conference, it is our intention that their remarks will expand the discussion and promote a lively,creative exchange among all attending the conference.

Pots from this firing will be displayed against previous work to compare methods and recognize the risks that were involved in the firing.  Photographs of the firing process will be hung, and notes from the kiln log will be shared to give conference participants as much information as possible about the experimental firing.  Kiln plans and slip/glaze recipes will also be shared and discussed.

Located just over three hours from Washington, D.C., the campus of Sweet Briar College provides a convenient and beautiful setting for this weekend conference.  With lodging in the campus residence halls and meals provided in the renovated cafeteria, costs will be kept at a minimum.