The Art of Carbon Trapping: A Smoky Experiment

Carbon trapping occurs when soot and smoke from the kiln become embedded in the glaze, creating unpredictable, smoky patterns that give each piece a distinct character. There are several ways to achieve this. You can increase the fuel intake to produce soot naturally or manually introduce combustibles to the kiln. It’s similar to the raku process, where a hot pot is placed into a container with burnables, sealed off to create a reduction atmosphere, and left to smoke out.

For this batch, I experimented with two reduction cycles. I started with a heavy reduction at cone 06—a bisque temperature—for one hour. Then, at the peak of the firing at cone 6, I reduced again for about 30 minutes to encourage more carbon to find its way into the glaze. On other occasions, I’ve dropped wood chips down the kiln’s center hole right before shutdown to add another layer of unpredictability.

This time, as soon as the kiln reached cone 6 and shut off, I shoved wood chips into the center hole as fast as I could, quickly sealing the opening with a broken kiln shelf. The kiln began to exhale thick clouds of smoke, filling the space with the smell of burning wood and carbon. I left it sealed overnight, curious about what magic might unfold inside.

When morning came, I lifted the lid, my heart racing slightly—these kinds of experiments can go either way. But to my surprise and relief, the results were stunning! The pots carried intricate, smoky patterns, each unique and full of character. The Carbon Trapping Collection was born.