Natural ash glaze & shell scars
Natural ash glaze occurs in a wood fired kiln when ash particles carried around the kiln by the hot air and flames land and melt on the pots, often creating dramatic colour variations on their surfaces depending on their position in the kiln.
Scallop shells are used during firings to prevent pots sticking to the kiln and to each other. Burning away during the firing they leave behind fossil like scars.

Nic Collins was born in 1958 in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. A self-taught potter and woodfirer, he started building kilns and wheels during his late teens and early 20s, experimenting with raku, salt glazing and sawdust firings, and using clay sourced from local river banks.
He studied studio ceramics at Derby College of Art 1985-86 and then went on to work in potteries in Italy and Germany before returning to the UK. He now lives and works in Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor.