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Alan Perillo | Episode 1043
Alan Perillo is a potter living in Tenino, WA. Alan makes thrown, functional pottery that is wood-fired in his anagama-style kiln. Alan has been throwing pots since high school and studied as an apprentice in North Carolina. Alan is currently a vendor at the Olympia Farmers Market.
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In general how much does it cost to build a wood kiln?
That’s a hard question to answer because there are so many different kinds. I would say it can range from 5 thousand to 15 thousand to build the same kiln. If you used new brick or if you insulated it more or less, if you hired someone to help you, so I would say the range can differ up to 5 thousand plus or minus on a medium sized kiln just one design.
What do you think the pay off time is to pay for the kiln?
Well I think with my kiln we could make up for the total costs in three to four firings of the kiln.
Do you have to have a shelter? Is it required?
It is in Washington.
For the rain. But does it help the kiln itself?
Well you want to keep it dry because if it’s not dry then the energy you are getting from burning the wood is going to be used to just dry out your kiln. The ground all around your kiln is going to get wet, the sub floor or brick is going to get saturated with water and that stuff can take time to dry out. Another disadvantage if you don’t have a covering is it could wash away your skin coat, if you call it that, which in my case is a layer of stucco.
How many firings can you expect to get from a kiln? What is the lifespan?
Again that’s something that depends a lot on the kiln and how it was built. I am hoping I can get 100 plus firings out of my kiln with maybe one or two significant repairs leading up to that point. I would be happy with that.
How many firings are you able to do in a year? How often do you fire?
The plan is to fire twice a year until the possibility that I have a surplus of work built up and I have a shop so filled with greenware pots that I could turn around really quick again probably sometime during the wet season and fire again. But for now the plan is April and October, spring and fall.
Do you bisque your work before you fire your work?
I don’t no. So far everything has been single fired greenware. But I have some glazed that I am introducing to the next firing that I have tried raw glazing with and it doesn’t work out so I will probably bisque as needed for certain glaze applications.
Do you really look forward to the community of firing together?
I do look forward to it, yeah. I think it’s a big component of what I enjoy about the whole process. Along with, obviously, the results of the firing and the rest of the experience and the whole life style that goes along with being wood fire potter. But I do feel really lucky that we have gotten to know and found a really supportive, friendly, hard-working group of ceramics arts people in the Olympia area.
Books
Pioneer Pottery by Michael Cardew
Contact
Instagram: @alanperillopottery