My name is Eva Funderburgh. I’m an artist living in Seattle, Washington, working in ceramics, cast bronze, and public art.
The work I’m best known for is my wood-fired ceramic creatures. I make beasts that are a blend of whimsical and menacing, creatures that feel like they might have walked out of a legend. Wood firing is the final step of my ceramic process, a collaboration with fire. Each beast ends up decorated with the ash and the flame in a unique and unpredictable way.
For years, I’ve worked at other artists’ wood fired kilns, learning the process of wood firing and the skills to manage a kiln. Now, after 17 years, I’m finally building my own kiln. This kiln will give me security in my career and guarantee my creative freedom. I’ve started this project, but I need your help to bring it across the finish line.
In 2022, my husband and I purchased some land in Granite Falls, Washington. Before that, I spent a year searching for raw land, with the plan to first build my kiln and then later a stop-over cabin. When we found this plot, complete with a small house, on top of a Cascade foothill, we knew it was the right one. We rearranged our plans and made it happen. Starting with the kiln house has made life much simpler. However, I still had to figure out the kiln.
Since 2005, I’ve fired at a pair of anagama-style kilns in western Washington. These are large kilns, built on a Japanese design. We would typically fire with 9-15 people, a process that would take two days to load, and 5 days to fire up to temperature. Considering our space, I decided I wanted something smaller for my kiln. A smaller kiln, one that can be fired with 4-6 people, will give me more creative freedom to try different firing techniques. We will be able to fire more often, learning more about the process.
After a lot of researching, I've decided to build a train kiln. Train kilns are a type of bourry box kiln, a more modern design that is more efficient in applying ash to the pots. I’ll be able to get results reminiscent of an anagama in half the time.
Having settled on a train kiln, I spent the spring traveling around the country. I fired train kilns in Oregon with Jesse Jones and in Illinois with Simon Levin. I visited and talked with owners of train kilns throughout the country. At this point, I’m confident in my design, and I have an idea of what I’ll need to spend on brick, supplies, and more.
In total, I’ll be looking at least $25,000. This should fund the rest of the construction. Extra funds will help defray what we’ve already spent on the concrete work. As I’ve continued planning, the costs have kept accumulating. I'm looking at about spending $14,000 on just the bricks alone. That's after doing the extra work to find more than half of my bricks used for a lower cost! The stainless steel bars for the fire grate will be $1,200 - just one part of the steel we’ll need. A heavy duty log splitter will be $1,400. Building a wood kiln is extremely expensive, and our beautiful but remote location will make it trickier - did you know they make all terrain forklifts?
In order to bring this project to completion, I'm reaching out to all of my friends, family, collectors, and fans. This crowdfundr feels like the perfect overlap of so many things. Often, my work sells out in minutes, for prices beyond what many can afford. This time, I’ll not only be including finished sculptures that I have been saving for this project, but I’ll be including pre-orders and donations too. My goal is to have something in the price range of everyone who wants to support me. At the higher end, I’ll be including the chance to have a private sculpting lesson at the kiln house for you and five of your friends.
One unique thing I’m offering is the idea of donating a brick. If you choose to “donate” a brick I will glaze your name onto the brick, and have it displayed as part of my kiln. This is an idea that really hits home to me. Wood firing is always a community endeavor. I’ve been lucky to have been helped so many times by so many people. Half of my bricks are coming from older potters who’ve taken down their kilns. So much of my knowledge is coming from those around me. My work has grown and found new fans due to friends and collectors sharing it. All of this help throughout the years is manifesting in a physical object. One beautiful kiln, made brick by brick through hard work, community, and connection!
Perks
Wood firing is a community effort. From education, through support, through the firing itself, everything goes smoother with community. I’m excited to make that visual on my kiln. I’ll glaze donors’s names onto bricks, and stack those bricks into my kiln!
- 3 ordered
- 7 remaining
I've finally sorted out intentional shipping! Many countries, including the UK and the EU, have a 0% tariff on artwork. If you're curious about your specific country, please let me know and I'll look it up!
I also have updated this listing to be more accurate for what the shipping actually costs.
“Migration" is an ongoing collaborative art project. It involves hiding tiny beasts around the world, in locations where they will eventually be found. This purchase is for a two pack of randomly selected tiny beasts - one for you to hide somewhere, one to keep.
The “pre-order” version will be tiny beasts that I will design and cast this fall! I will be making an all-new set of slip casting molds. Some of the new tiny beasts will be fired in my freshly built train kiln. Other beasts will likely be mixed with beasts from the Seabeck Anagama, or possibly soda fired beasts. Regardless of the kiln, I should have enough beasts to ship out more orders by December 2023.
- 76 ordered
- 14 remaining
“Migration" is an ongoing collaborative art project. It involves hiding tiny beasts around the world, in locations where they will eventually be found. This purchase is for a two pack of randomly selected tiny beasts - one for you to hide somewhere, one to keep.
The “pre-order” version will be tiny beasts that I will design and cast this fall! I will be making an all-new set of slip casting molds. Some of the new tiny beasts will be fired in my freshly built train kiln. Other beasts will likely be mixed with beasts from the Seabeck Anagama, or possibly soda fired beasts. Regardless of the kiln, I should have enough beasts to ship out more orders by December 2023.
- 0 ordered
- 10 remaining
I've finally sorted out intentional shipping! Many countries, including the UK and the EU, have a 0% tariff on artwork. If you're curious about your specific country, please let me know and I'll look it up!
I also have updated this listing to be more accurate for what the shipping actually costs.
--
One randomly selected flying beast from my 2022 solo show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
This flier was part of the 200 piece installation “Murmuration”. A vast swarm of fliers hung in formation, around a glass sphere. The fliers were complete in 2020-2022, each sculpting with loving care. They range from 6” to 3” long, and are each hung on a loop of fishing line. They have all been wood fired, either in an anagama-style kiln, a train kiln, or a catenary wood soda kiln.
These fliers will be shipped out during August.
- 92 ordered
- 7 remaining
One randomly selected flying beast from my 2022 solo show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
This flier was part of the 200 piece installation “Murmuration”. A vast swarm of fliers hung in formation, around a glass sphere. The fliers were complete in 2020-2022, each sculpting with loving care. They range from 6” to 3” long, and are each hung on a loop of fishing line. They have all been wood fired, either in an anagama-style kiln, a train kiln, or a catenary wood soda kiln.
These fliers will be shipped out during August.
- 8 ordered
- 8 remaining
One pair of slip-cast skulls! These skulls are 2” to 3” long. They’ve been slipcast from molds, with tiny hand sculpted teeth. Each skull is unique, finished with its own natural glaze of ash and flame. I’ve divided them into pairs that compliment each other before boxing them. Each set will have two different sizes.
The early-bird skulls are ones I made this spring, fired in kilns in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois. They’ll ship in August.
Join me at either the kiln house studio or my personal studio in Seattle for a private beast making lesson. I’ll take you and up to four friends through the basics of making quadrupedal beasts using pinch pots! The lesson will take four to six hours. I’ll be speeding it up a little by premaking some components. At the end, I’ll fire your beasts in my kiln, and return them to you. In addition, I’ll include a hand-drawn thank you note for your generosity, and glaze your name onto one of the bricks of my kiln.
We’ll have some flexibility in scheduling the workshop, but November or later would be preferred.
- 12 ordered
- 0 remaining
For your generous support, you’ll get your choice of a beast! Choose any beast, smaller than one foot long, from my present herd or any of my next two firings. Right now, I have 16 available, fired in Oregon, Washington, and Illinois. If none of them are the right beast, you can wait for my firings this fall and winter. To keep this simple, I’ll let people choose their beasts based on their purchase order.I’ll also include a lovely hand drawn thank you card, and put your name on one of the bricks in my kiln.
If you choose one of the existing beasts, I’ll ship it out this August
- 60 ordered
- 0 remaining
“Migration" is an ongoing collaborative art project. It involves hiding tiny beasts around the world, in locations where they will eventually be found. This purchase is for a two pack of randomly selected tiny beasts - one for you to hide somewhere, one to keep.
The “Early Bird” version is a section of tiny beasts I made this spring! This selection of beasts have been fired in kilns in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois. These beasts are slip-cast, a method that lets me create a few dozen identically shaped beasts before destroying the molds.
Highlights
See all activity232
Wood firing is a community effort. From education, through support, through the firing itself, everything goes smoother with community. I’m excited to make that visual on my kiln. I’ll glaze donors’s names onto bricks, and stack those bricks into my kiln!
- 3 ordered
- 7 remaining
I've finally sorted out intentional shipping! Many countries, including the UK and the EU, have a 0% tariff on artwork. If you're curious about your specific country, please let me know and I'll look it up!
I also have updated this listing to be more accurate for what the shipping actually costs.
“Migration" is an ongoing collaborative art project. It involves hiding tiny beasts around the world, in locations where they will eventually be found. This purchase is for a two pack of randomly selected tiny beasts - one for you to hide somewhere, one to keep.
The “pre-order” version will be tiny beasts that I will design and cast this fall! I will be making an all-new set of slip casting molds. Some of the new tiny beasts will be fired in my freshly built train kiln. Other beasts will likely be mixed with beasts from the Seabeck Anagama, or possibly soda fired beasts. Regardless of the kiln, I should have enough beasts to ship out more orders by December 2023.
- 76 ordered
- 14 remaining
“Migration" is an ongoing collaborative art project. It involves hiding tiny beasts around the world, in locations where they will eventually be found. This purchase is for a two pack of randomly selected tiny beasts - one for you to hide somewhere, one to keep.
The “pre-order” version will be tiny beasts that I will design and cast this fall! I will be making an all-new set of slip casting molds. Some of the new tiny beasts will be fired in my freshly built train kiln. Other beasts will likely be mixed with beasts from the Seabeck Anagama, or possibly soda fired beasts. Regardless of the kiln, I should have enough beasts to ship out more orders by December 2023.
- 0 ordered
- 10 remaining
I've finally sorted out intentional shipping! Many countries, including the UK and the EU, have a 0% tariff on artwork. If you're curious about your specific country, please let me know and I'll look it up!
I also have updated this listing to be more accurate for what the shipping actually costs.
--
One randomly selected flying beast from my 2022 solo show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
This flier was part of the 200 piece installation “Murmuration”. A vast swarm of fliers hung in formation, around a glass sphere. The fliers were complete in 2020-2022, each sculpting with loving care. They range from 6” to 3” long, and are each hung on a loop of fishing line. They have all been wood fired, either in an anagama-style kiln, a train kiln, or a catenary wood soda kiln.
These fliers will be shipped out during August.
- 92 ordered
- 7 remaining
One randomly selected flying beast from my 2022 solo show at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.
This flier was part of the 200 piece installation “Murmuration”. A vast swarm of fliers hung in formation, around a glass sphere. The fliers were complete in 2020-2022, each sculpting with loving care. They range from 6” to 3” long, and are each hung on a loop of fishing line. They have all been wood fired, either in an anagama-style kiln, a train kiln, or a catenary wood soda kiln.
These fliers will be shipped out during August.
- 8 ordered
- 8 remaining
One pair of slip-cast skulls! These skulls are 2” to 3” long. They’ve been slipcast from molds, with tiny hand sculpted teeth. Each skull is unique, finished with its own natural glaze of ash and flame. I’ve divided them into pairs that compliment each other before boxing them. Each set will have two different sizes.
The early-bird skulls are ones I made this spring, fired in kilns in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois. They’ll ship in August.
Join me at either the kiln house studio or my personal studio in Seattle for a private beast making lesson. I’ll take you and up to four friends through the basics of making quadrupedal beasts using pinch pots! The lesson will take four to six hours. I’ll be speeding it up a little by premaking some components. At the end, I’ll fire your beasts in my kiln, and return them to you. In addition, I’ll include a hand-drawn thank you note for your generosity, and glaze your name onto one of the bricks of my kiln.
We’ll have some flexibility in scheduling the workshop, but November or later would be preferred.
- 12 ordered
- 0 remaining
For your generous support, you’ll get your choice of a beast! Choose any beast, smaller than one foot long, from my present herd or any of my next two firings. Right now, I have 16 available, fired in Oregon, Washington, and Illinois. If none of them are the right beast, you can wait for my firings this fall and winter. To keep this simple, I’ll let people choose their beasts based on their purchase order.I’ll also include a lovely hand drawn thank you card, and put your name on one of the bricks in my kiln.
If you choose one of the existing beasts, I’ll ship it out this August
- 60 ordered
- 0 remaining
“Migration" is an ongoing collaborative art project. It involves hiding tiny beasts around the world, in locations where they will eventually be found. This purchase is for a two pack of randomly selected tiny beasts - one for you to hide somewhere, one to keep.
The “Early Bird” version is a section of tiny beasts I made this spring! This selection of beasts have been fired in kilns in Washington, Oregon, and Illinois. These beasts are slip-cast, a method that lets me create a few dozen identically shaped beasts before destroying the molds.
