How does it work?
Pick your piece of pottery to paint.
"Bisque" is the stage that the pottery is in when its ready to paint. We have over 200 different pieces of bisque, including 7 styles of dinnerware and various shapes and sizes of platters. We also carry mugs, bowls, tiles, chip and dip trays, and just about anything else you can think of.
Choose your paint colors.
All of our paints are water-based so they are easy to clean up and won't stain clothing. We recommend three coats of each color of paint. We also have special glazes, matte paints and cool techniques if you're interested in something a little different.
Happy painting!
If you need inspiration, we have an Idea Center with binders and books for inspiration, as well as stamps, stencils and sponges. We have lots of experience, so don't hesitate to ask a staff member for help or ideas. That's what we are here for!
But wait ... what happens next?
When you're done, you'll leave your finished pottery with us so we can glaze and fire it. Your piece is shelved in the order it is completed, then glazed. The glaze is green but turns clear after firing (phew!).
Only half of the piece can be glazed at a time and each half must dry 24 hours.
After your pottery is glazed and dried, it is ready to be loaded on a shelf in one of our three kilns. When one shelf is full, we then use posts to build another shelf on top for more pottery.
The pottery must be balanced on top of "stilts," otherwise, the glaze will cause it will stick to the shelves. We try to maximize all of the space, so loading the kiln is kind of like a big puzzle.
Once the kiln is full we're ready to fire. The kiln gets up to 1830 degrees Fahrenheit. The firing process takes 30 hours from start to finish, and we can only open the kiln once it has cooled back down.
With three kilns, most orders are completed within 7-10 days. However, some holidays may see some delays due to the volume of pottery we process.
When the kiln is finally cool enough to open, we carefully take out each piece of pottery and sand off small bits of glaze on the bottom which is a result of the stilts.
Then, we match each piece to its ticket, wrap it up and give you a call so you can come pick up your masterpiece.