Would you like to learn more?

Are you ready ? This is detailed but, it’s still just “in a nutshell”.  There are so many options and choices, you’ll see how great this artform is! 

We are a “paint your own pottery studio” where customers select from a wide range of “first fire” blank pottery items to paint and decorate as they wish.  Think about it like going into an artist studio and starting with a blank canvas.  It’s the same with our studio BUT the process is much easier!  It truly is and we are here to help you through the steps!

Upon arrival, a member of our Team will greet you and assign a work space/table to you.  After gathering all your information, you will be invited to browse our shelves for the piece(s) that you’d like to paint and decorate.  Our items range from mugs, bowls, tea pots, tea cups, piggy banks, flower pots, pet bowls, dinner plates, figurines….. well, to simply anything that can be made in ceramic. If you don’t see what you are looking for chances are that we have it, just not on display.  Be sure to ask a member of our team if you can’t find what you are looking for.  

Once you have selected your piece(s) a team member will walk you through the steps of painting your pottery.  Just in case you’d like to know ahead of time, here are the steps :

1. Decide on a style, design or pattern which you would like to decorate your piece (we have several books to browse, the tv monitor in the studio displays past customers’ artwork, Pinterest and IG are popular references and, there is always our gallery which has several images to gleen ideas from https://costamesa.colormemine.com/1766-2/
2. The pallette which you are provided has enough space for 5 colors but please know that you are not limited to 5.  You can have as many as you like but we recommend starting with your base and “big area” colors first. The paint (glaze) dries quite quickly and having too many colors at first does get overwhelming for many artists.
3. We provide pencils, stencils, sponges, tracing paper, carbon paper along with masking tape and a range of other tools to help you in your design process.  Pencil will burn off in the kiln as will the carbon paper tracing.  Try not to press too hard on your pencils as the lead does sometimes act as a barrier between your paint (glaze) and your pottery piece preventing it from absorbing the glaze.
4. Next, you will get to work at painting your artwork.  Notes to remember : dark over light colors is always better (if your design absolutely calls for the opposite – pls ask our team for assistance. We have a few tricks that help); in order to get solid colors it is best to paint 3 coats.  Note: this does not mean paint on very thickly – thick layers of paint cause the glaze to bubble while firing which makes it pull away from your pottery and which can create a splotchy, uneven result.  Paint 3 thin and even layers on your piece (the glaze dries very quickly so once you have completed 1 coat, the area where you first started off will be ready for the next coat.   If you would like a more “water color” effect, dilute the glaze/paint with a little water and apply the paint this way.  Many of our customers choose for a light and more variegated application (sch as water color art) and this is absolutely achievable by diluting your glazes just as you would with water colors.
5. We carry approx 65 colors of glazes along with specialty glazes (ask our team more about these – they are fun!).  Colors can be mixed to make your own shades and colors.  Just remember with glazes the color which you have mixed in  our pallette doesn’t allows look the same after firing.  Glazes mix and react differently in the firing process.  That’s part of the fun in this form of art!
6. Once your piece is complete, we recommend that you autograph it on the bottom (we have detail bottles for this – do  not use sharpie, this burns off in the kiln). Pls.  leave your piece at y our table for one our Team to inventory & describe you piece under your account and then bring it to the kiln room.to dry.  
7. Your piece(s) sit overnight to dry in our kiln room.  The next day we give them a final glaze, let them dry for approx 30 minutes and then fire them one last time. To seal and give your pottery it’s final glossy finish our kiln needs to get to +/- 1850 F.  This process takes about 24 hours from start to finish.  When your artwork comes out of the kiln we drimmel and fine finish the stilt marks at the bottom of your pieces. 
8. Once the pieces are inspected for any defects and approved, they are then packed up and ready for pick up.  We will text you between 5-7 days for pick up.  And that is it, in a “nutshell”.

You will be amazed at the beautiful pieces of pottery you can create and how much fun it is!

Best of all, it takes little time and is a very affordable hobby!