Linda Marsh’s pottery studio in Long Beach is filled with the possibility of creating beautiful pieces of art. Just be willing to indulge your playful, creative side.

She has all the supplies needed for a prospective potter to complete a project, including rubber stamps, cookie cutters and paint brushes.

Linda hand-builds functional, food-safe, decorative pottery and, recently, has been working on larger pieces. She creates pottery with an electric kiln, in addition to using barrel firing and Raku firing techniques.

In barrel firing, sawdust is placed in the bottom of the barrel and a fire is built around the pots. The heat of the fire is between 1,400 and 1,600 degrees, and the firing process lasts approximately eight hours.

Raku firing is the opposite of the normal firing process, where the piece is removed from the kiln after it has slowly cooled down. In Raku, a piece is taken from the kiln red-hot, then placed in material that catches fire easily, such as sawdust or newspaper. Once the Raku kiln is up to temperature (1,400 to higher than 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit), a batch of pottery takes about half an hour.

Originally from Weston, Oregon, Linda first became interested in ceramics in the 1960s. For years, she took lessons on painting techniques and finishing molded ceramics, then passed on her knowledge to others.

She later learned how to throw pottery on a wheel and, in 2012, moved back to the Long Beach Peninsula from the Chelan/Winthrop area and took additional pottery classes at Clatsop Community College.

An exciting part of this learning process was taking an Anagama class from Astoria potter Richard Rowland. An Anagama kiln is a traditional wood-burning kiln used for firing ceramics. It is believed this type of kiln was brought to Japan from China in the fifth century A.D.

Linda’s husband, Bob Marsh, was born in Ilwaco, Washington, so their return to the Peninsula was a homecoming of sorts for him.

In 1988, Linda opened a gift and ceramics shop at the Port of Ilwaco called “Linda’s Gift Gallery,” which had a ceramic shop up front. Meanwhile, Bob kept an auto body shop in back.

Linda’s hobby grew to the point where it was no longer just a hobby. “You can only make so much stuff for yourself,” she said. Hers had become a “working hobby.”

In the current workspace they share, Linda claims not to have invaded her husband’s territory. “I haven’t overflowed too much into his area,” she said.

Bob warmly disagrees. “At first Linda took only 20 percent of my area, but that percentage gradually increased,” he said. “I may have to get a bigger shop.”

Linda, who does firing for other clay artists, is currently president of Northwest Artist Guild and a member of the Peninsula Arts Association and Peninsula Clay Artists.

Her studio is open for lessons 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and by appointment. The cost is $20 to $25, depending on the project, and includes the clay, firing and glaze. The studio is open at other times for individual or group parties.