Getting Ready for Our Annual Pit Fire: Colours, Tips & Ideas
Pit Firing is Back for 2026!
Time to start getting your pieces ready 🔥🏺
One of our favourite pottery events of the year is almost here.
Thanks to the generosity of local artist Randall Sinnamon, Bay & Basin Bush Potters will once again be holding a community pit firing at Squiggly Gum Studio.
Pit firing is one of the oldest firing methods in the world and is always full of surprises. No two pieces ever come out the same. Smoke, fire, minerals and natural materials all work together to create beautiful colours, markings and effects that simply cannot be repeated in a kiln.
Important Dates
Final bisque firing for pit fire pieces: Week of 15th June, Please bring to the studio for Kiln loading on Monday, 15th of June or Saturday, 20th of June 2026
Pit firing day: Tuesday 23rd June
Pit unpacking: Tuesday 30th June, weather permitting
Location: Kindly hosted by Randall Sinnamon at his Squiggly Gum Studio, Woollamia
What is Pit Firing?
Unlike glazed pottery, pit-fired pieces gain their colour from smoke, fire, and the materials placed around the pot during firing. The results can range from smoky greys and blacks through to flashes of pink, turquoise, orange, yellow and metallic effects.
The best part is that nobody knows exactly what will happen, and that is all part of the fun.
Start Gathering Materials
Many of the colour effects come from simple everyday materials. If you are walking along the beach, cleaning up the garden or having a morning coffee, you might already have something useful for the pit fire.
Ideas to collect:
Seaweed, coffee grounds, banana peels, leaves, grasses, driftwood, sawdust, steel wool, copper wire, salt and other natural materials.
Colour Effects
Different materials can create different colours and markings. Seaweed may create soft greys and smoky blacks. Copper can create flashes of turquoise, green or pink. Coffee grounds often give warm, earthy tones, while salt can create oranges, yellows and mottled effects.
These colour charts are a helpful guide, but pit firing is never exact. Clay type, wrapping, placement in the pit, materials used and even the weather can all change the final result.
Terra Sigillata and Burnishing
Some pit-fired pieces are prepared with terra sigillata, which is a very fine clay slip that can be polished to create a smooth, silky surface. This can help show off the smoke markings and colour flashes beautifully.
Burnishing is simply polishing the surface before firing. You can use the back of a spoon, a smooth stone, a plastic bag or a chamois cloth. It takes a little patience, but the results can be lovely.
Firewood Needed
Randall has kindly offered his studio and facilities again this year and has asked whether members might be able to contribute some dry firewood for the firing.
If you have any suitable firewood available, it would be greatly appreciated.
Getting Your Pieces Ready
If you are making work for the pit fire, please make sure your pieces are dry, ready for bisque firing and clearly labelled for pit firing.
This is a wonderful chance to experiment, try something different and enjoy the magic of fire, smoke and surprise.
Happy Pit Firing
We can't wait to see what everyone creates this year.
Thank you to Mike for organising this event and helping keep our pottery community thriving. Pit firing is about so much more than pottery. It's about connection, creativity, learning new skills, trying something different and spending time with like-minded people. These shared experiences are a big part of what makes our group such a welcoming and supportive community. 💛
