FAQs

Q: Do I need a reservation to come in and paint?
A: Nope. In fact, we only take reservations for groups over 8 or for pawties.

Q: How old do you have to be to paint?
A: Couple of hours. We've done newborn footprints at the hospital! It just proves that anyone can paint. Really...we have no age limits here. We love kiddos!

Q: Do you fire my pottery here or send it away?
A: We fire it here! There are 2 kilns in the back that fire most days of the week. Wanna see? Just ask and we'll take you on a tour. It's messy back there...you've been warned.

Q: Why does it take 4-6 days to get my pottery back?
A: Mostly because we eat cookies on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays in lieu of working so we need more time to fire the pottery. But also because after you leave, there are a lot of things that happen to your pieces. First, we let your pieces dry overnight to get rid of the moisture. Next, we dip them in a clear glaze (the stuff that will make them all shiny and pretty)...and they dry overnight again. Then, we load everything into the kiln. The firing takes about 24 hours because the kiln must heat to over 1800 degrees and cool back down to a temperature where it may be safely unloaded. After cooling, we unload the kilns and dremel off any sharp stilt marks. (In order to keep your pieces from fusing to the kiln furniture, a 3 prong sharp stilt is used). Finally, we glue on all frame backs, put in bank stoppers and all the other finishing work that makes your piece complete. It takes a lot of steps, but mostly the cookie thing.

Q: Is it OK to put my pottery in the dishwasher or microwave?
A: Um, the short answer is: we don't recommend it. The long answer is: appliances can place a lot of stress on your pottery which may cause them to crack, craze (teeny tiny cracks that trap nasty bacteria) or chip. Also, pottery holds heat like nobody's business, so if you microwave it – watch out! It will be intensely hot and melt the skin off of your fingers. OK, maybe not melt...but it will burn and it will hurt. We put pottery in both on a regular basis and live with the consequences, but to keep yours from being damaged I would steer clear of both.

Q: A plate that I just love was broken by the movers. Can you fix it PLEASE???
A: Not so much. E-6000 and super glue are wonderful things to have in your tool kit. If it was a serving piece, it will no longer be food safe. If it's a very expensive item that you wish to have repaired, I would contact your insurance company for a recommendation on a restoration service.

Q: Do you know where (insert random restaurant or store name here) is?
A. Maybe! Believe it or not, we are asked for directions on a daily basis. I think that we should be AAA rated or something! We've gotten pretty good...stop in and test us. ;)

Q: Is my pottery food safe?
A: Yep, sure is. It's just like the pottery you would buy at any store...except YOU made it!

Q: I can't paint. Will you make something for me?
A: First of all, I argue that you can indeed paint. We have classes to help and everyone has to start somewhere! But, of course, we do custom painting all the time.

Q: This must be a great place to work! Do you just paint all day?
A: Ummmm...no. If you can believe it, painting is the last thing we do. Stacy does the custom work and some of the class samples. Everyone else pitches in to do other classes and studio samples, but those are only done after all of our other work is complete. Just check out our employment page to see the job description!

Q: Are you all artists?
A: Nope. Not a single one. Stacy has a business background. Christine is a certified teacher. Maureen has a customer service/office background. Meg is a graphic web designer. Paige loves photography. Mia loves journalism. We just all love helping our customers create!

Q: I live out of town. Will you ship my pottery?
A: I believe in letting people do what they are good at. We are not good at it so we don't do it.