Pottery stores offer camaraderie and relaxation for everyday artists

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, May 10, 2000 | 9:19 a.m.

Paint, pottery and peace.

That's what many are finding at the five paint-your-own-pottery stores around the valley.

Pottery stores have become a meeting place for people -- creative and otherwise -- to hang out and commiserate over coffee and pieces of raw pottery.

"It's very therapeutic," said Sandy Maloney, a weeknight regular at Color Me Mine on West Lake Mead Boulevard, one of two stores in the Northwest part of town. There is one other Northwest store, the Artful Potter, on Rainbow Boulevard, and three pottery stores in Green Valley: All Fired Up on Windmill Lane, My Paint Box on Stephanie Street, and another Artful Potter on South Eastern Avenue.

Maloney meets with her sisters, Valerie Rosenfield and Patty Cordillo, each Wednesday after work to gab, gorge and giggle while they paint. The trio had never really made time to get together before and find that the weekly pottery appointment bolsters their relationship.

"We talk about our day, we paint," Maloney said. "It's girls' night."

And only girls night. Her two older sisters, both married with children, ban their families from their weeknight retreat to catch up on each other -- and themselves.

"It's definitely an escape," Maloney said. "Sometimes I don't even paint, I just sit and talk."

The sisters order pizza, which they share with anyone else who happens to be there that night, and sometimes have a bottle of wine as they create their masterpieces.

"It's a community place to get together and do something different," Maloney said.

Lori Pruitt, owner of the Artful Potter in Summerlin and its new store in Green Valley, said that the activity brings out the best in people.

"You can't think and paint -- you are in the moment," Pruitt said. "It becomes social. You get to be with your friends, create something, and there's a calmness within you that you have when you leave here."

For a fee, usually $6 an hour, customers can buy a piece to paint and sit down at a large, round table with jars of different-sized paint brushes, sponges and ballpoint pens.

Picking out the piece can take longer than actually painting it because there are so many items to choose from: dinner plates, pitchers, salt and pepper shakers, salsa bowls, piggy banks, picture frames, dog bowls and even an 8-inch bust of Elvis.

Then the real work begins. There are hundreds of shapes, stamps, stencils and other pattern options from which to choose. If that's not enough choices, there are 50 or so paints in variations of the primary colors, from pansy pink to bayberry blue. It takes about two hours on average to paint a small piece. Unfinished pieces can be left at the shop and customers can come back at their leisure to finish their projects.

Once a piece is finished it is left at the shop to be dipped in a protective glaze and fired in a kiln to make the art permanent. Customers can pick up their finished piece usually within two days.

The atmosphere, or "art-mosphere" as Pruitt likes to call it, allows for otherwise undiscovered creative tendencies to rise to the surface. The employees guide novices through the tangle of patterns, paints and pieces.

Many first-timers, Pruitt said, are amazed at their penchant for painting.

"The reason a lot of adults think they aren't artistic is because someone told them that they weren't," she said. "People are happy to be here. You get to see the excitement on their faces when they realize they've made something so personal (that) only they could do."

Bridal and baby showers and other girly get-togethers are often held at the pottery places, Pruitt said.

"It used to be that you do crafts by yourself and people would say, 'I didn't know you could sew, or knit or whatever,' " Pruitt said. "Now it's a huge gathering. It's relaxing."

Now there are 1,000 Artful Potters franchises nationwide, Pruitt said, where there were only 100 three years ago. Pruitt has organized "date nights" to get crafty singles together. She provides food, wine and the pottery and lets Cupid do the rest.

"There are people who come in all by themselves," she said. "People have made friends with each other just sitting across the table from each other on a busy night."

The painting process, Pruitt said, helps melt troubles away for a lot of customers.

For instance, there is a young chemotherapy patient who has been coming in once a week for the past few months to paint at the low, white tables. The little girl no longer attends school, goes to the park or visits with friends, but she spends hours painting, Pruitt said.

"She can barely sit up, but this is the one thing she still wants to do," she said.

The young artist wanted to make a present for her mom for Mother's Day, but had yet to finish it before she had to go back to the hospital for more intense treatment for her cancer. After four hours she couldn't sit up anymore but wanted to complete the project. Pruitt made a to-go kit for her to take to the hospital.

"She wanted to finish her mother's gift because she was afraid she wouldn't get it done beforehand," she said. That's what makes Pruitt's job the joy that it is, she said.

"We help people make things that are so satisfying when they get finished," Pruitt said. "It's really touching to help people (do) something simple but means so much."

Deidra Davison has helped customers unearth their inner artists at Color Me Mine since February. She instructs new customers on how to shade patterns to get an antique look and other tricks to turn a blank surface into art.

"A lot of the techniques are really easy," Davison said. "A lot of people come in and say they've never done this before, but they walk away satisfied."

Color Me Mine offers food nights, which attract a lot of couples on dates who bring wine and takeout to enjoy while they get to know each other better. The guys, Davison said, may be there to make a good impression on their dates, but they tend to also be surprised by their artful tributes.

"The only men we get in here are (here) because their wives or girlfriends dragged them in here kicking and screaming," Davison said. "Once they are here, they really get into it, really detail (their pieces)."

Sarah Steben, a trapeze artist with "O" at the Bellagio hotel-casino, has recruited her boyfriend to the artsy side, as well as her twin sister and brother-in-law. "We all have come and (sat) and talked and had a good time," she said. "They really enjoyed it."

Steben discovered the art of painting pottery in her hometown of Montreal. She was relieved to find Color Me Mine here and travels out of her way to spend an afternoon puttering with paint.

"This is where I come every time I want to relax, and take a juice or tea and be by myself," Steben said.

She concentrates so intently on the painting process that any troubles she may be feeling slip peacefully away. "I feel like I'm at home, drinking a tea or coffee and I'm just having fun," Steben said. "I'm not feeling guilty about being anywhere else -- I'm busy."

The pottery places attract a lot of families and children. The little ones like the fun and the parents like the product -- and the peace.

Stephanie Hauser and her son, Robson, and daughter, Megan, came in over spring break to paint a gift for the children's grandmother. Robson was pleasantly proud of his work. "I didn't think it would be so fun and (that they would) have so much to choose from," he said.

While her children sat quietly and explored their new-found creative juices, Hauser took the respite to enjoy a cup of coffee around the corner. "It gives them a sense of pride in something they've done themselves and a sense of accomplishment because they can enjoy something they have made themselves," she said. "They get an idea on what colors complement each other and which ones clash and they went from there. They had fun."

David Brian was introduced to the art form through his children, who raved about the activity. He recently brought Mariah, 4, and Amber, 2, to make a gift for their grandmother for Mother's Day. "They picked it out themselves and I helped them paint it," Brian said. "It was neat to see what they picked, the frame, the colors."

As the multicolored frame is taken from the finished projects cupboard, Brian immediately identifies the piece. "Yup, that's my children," he said, rather proudly.

The Artful Potter fills a niche for parents with Petite Picassos, a class on Tuesday and Thursday mornings that lets little minds loose and gives other mothers relief in an otherwise hectic day. Heather Baker regularly brings her 4-year-old daughter, Dylan, to make a beautiful mess at the shop.

"I love watching her paint, watch her be creative," Baker said. "She loves to come and see the other kids."

Dylan has found the art of making polka dots and Mom is very impressed. "It's interesting to see how she picks her colors, what she wants to paint," Baker said. A few weeks ago Dylan learned to coat her lips with the nontoxic paint and press her pucker to the pottery to seal a one-of-a-kind kiss.

Pruitt encourages each artist to sign their project because, she said, most are surprised by their handiwork.

"I would be the first to tell you (that) you need another coat here, another coat here because I know what it's going to look like and I want you to be happy," she said. "It's easier than a lot of our customers think."

archive