Founded in 2022 by Judah Birkeland, Linwood Pottery is a kiln building and pottery making workshop located 30 miles north of the Twin Cities. Resting on 17 acres of private property, the pottery consists of a large pole building and kiln yard nestled deep in the forest with a beautiful a wetland backdrop.

Birkeland is a Minnesota based ceramic artist and kiln builder with nearly 20 years of professional experience. His formative years in clay took place in Minneapolis, where he worked as a production potter while also maintaining a private studio practice. In 2007, Birkeland began working with Master Kiln Builders, eventually becoming a full-time kiln builder. He has constructed kilns for some of the most renowned ceramic institutions and artists across the United States. Now, as the owner and operator of Linwood Pottery, he is experimenting with an innovative new portable wood kiln design, and developing a body of work specifically tailored to an abbreviated and highly efficient wood-fire process. 

Birkeland’s ceramics craft is rooted in the utilitarian tradition. Cultivating a sensibility which embraces and celebrates process marks left by the maker, as well as those left by the kiln is paramount to his work. Each pot tells the story of how it was made through the marks which adorn it. This interest in a process driven aesthetic led him to the world of kiln building and design, which has become inextricably linked to his clay practice. For Birkeland, the relationship between the two is symbiotic: the pots influence the kiln designs, and new kiln designs inspire changes in the pottery. His current work revolves around continuous experimentation with both pottery and kiln designs, carefully analyzing firing results, and pursuing the most intriguing avenues of exploration as they are revealed.