Jack Troy
Accomplished American wood-firer

Jack Troy is an American studio potter and teacher. He has taught at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, since 1968, where he is now Associate Professor of Art. He is well-known amongst wood-firers and the ceramics community in general and has held numerous workshops and lectures on wood-firing in the US and many other countries.

He is known for his wheel-thrown, wood-fired pottery, which he fires in an anagama kiln. He has also written two popular books - Salt-glazed Ceramics, published in 1977 and Wood-Fired Stoneware and Porcelain, published in 1995. He has also written more than 50 articles in ceramics-related magazines and published a collection of poems, Calling the Planet Home, in 2003.

Jack Troy's specialty is the anagama kiln, a wood-firing tunnel kiln, based on medieval Japanese kilns in Bizen and Shigaraki. Large deposits of wood ash create a natural ash glaze, the main source of decorative effects with wood-fired ware.

His book on wood-fired stoneware covers kiln construction, clays and glazes for wood-firing, stacking and kiln-setting, fuel, stoking options, firing schedules and more and has become a classic reference work for wood-firers around the globe.

The pictured 9 inch 'Torqued Porcelain Bottle' of 2002 is a typical anagama-fired work, displaying the effects of directional fly-ash. The piece is particularly striking thanks to the way the color effects wrap around the vessel, following the spiral form.

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