The only wood-fired kiln in the area was constructed and fired up on Saturday at the residence of Jon Muller.

“I got excited about these about three years ago,” he said. “Last summer, the Arts + Culture Alliance [ACA] helped me with funding to go to a workshop at the Adamah Art Studios in Dodgeville, Wis.”

The closest wood-fired kiln open to the public Muller is aware of is in Dodgeville. While he knows of a few potters in Iowa with such kilns, they are not open to the public. As wood-firing kilns are a rarity, when word got out one would be available in Marshalltown, it drew potters from Cedar Rapids, Des Moines and as far as Omaha. The reason for the rarity is the process is labor-intensive. Muller said it can last up to a week. Fortunately, with the kiln built on his property, he said the fire will be good to go within four hours.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Muller said. “Then you get the ash and smoke effect on the glaze. It brings out really neat, new colors.”

Deb Anderson of Des Moines was one of the potters who found out about Saturday’s kiln firing through a Facebook announcement and made the trip. She said with the intensive process and effects of wood-fired kilns, potters tend to travel for those events.

“Normally wood firing requires a large kiln which is always there,” she said. “It takes a whole bunch of people to fill it and fire it. You fire it for a couple days. This one, the fire is in a couple hours. So, you can do a small batch here. It’s very unique.”

The kiln built on Muller’s property is capable of doing oxidation or reduction. Oxidation will give brighter colors from the excess of oxygen. Reduction provides more organic surfaces from the smoky atmosphere.

To help ensure it was a smooth firing on Saturday, Andrew Linderman of Arena, Wis., traveled to Marshalltown with his portable kiln. Muller became familiar with Linderman as he taught the workshop in Dodgeville.

Because of the rarity and popularity, he said he will let potters know whenever the kiln will be fired up. The best way for Muller to communicate the availability is to notify the ACA when it will happen, and then the organization will make announcements. Muller estimates the kiln will be in use about once a month, year-round.

He said usage of the kiln will not be reserved for experienced potters. All levels can take advantage.

“Then you also get the community out of it,” Muller said. “There’s a lot of great conversations that come out of these firings. You can learn a lot. Someone might be doing something you want to do, and they will show you or talk you through it.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.