A Royal Weekend!

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Have you stopped by to take a peek at our Royal Wedding window display? If not - make sure to this weekend! We've decked it out with all our best British painted pottery, and although we're not sure the real Royal event will feature a Wedding March of dinosaurs and garden gnomes, our version does!

Today we're also going to be serving up some Prosecco to celebrate the big day, so make sure you give us a ring and make a booking, and your painting session will be made even merrier than usual! There will be some specially painted ceramic hearts to remember the day by as well - there's a limited amount, so make sure to get in quick! 

Congratulations to Harry and Meghan, have a wonderful day!

 

Mental Health Awareness Week - The Stress-Relieving Benefits of Pottery

The most popular sentence we hear from our customers is "this is so relaxing." And that's because it is! Taking a few hours out of your day to sit down, get your creativity engaged, and focus on using your hands to 'make' something, can do wonders in terms of relieving stress. 

(The other sentences we hear regularly are "two forks please!" when ordering our carrot cake, or "is the number 5 paint really going to turn red?").

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Most waking hours we are 'connected' or 'plugged in' - unable to escape from thoughts of our work, our social media presence, and what's going on in the world. Even in laid-back Brighton, where everything moves a little slower and there is a "more relaxed vibe.”,  we're all on-the-go. Britain is apparently "in the grip of a stress epidemic", and finding ways to relieve that stress has never been more important.

 

This is where clay work and pottery painting comes in! All you need to do is google the link between mental health and pottery, and you'll see articles and websites galore on the subject. Health Fitness Revolution, a popular magazine and online platform, explains that when on the wheel "your mind and body are in natural synergy, wrapped around your creative ambitions and goals." It's this that allows you to move away from all outside worries and focus purely on what you are creating.

At The Painting Pottery Cafe we also love to listen to calming, classical music whilst we make. If you've visited us before, you'll notice we play Classic FM all-day, everyday. It helps you to lose yourself in your pottery 'moment'; it's non offensive, not too in-your-face, and totally relaxing. One of our favourite classical musicians is Ludovico Einaudi, we've picked out a song for you to have a listen to here if you'd like! --->

So, if you're ever feeling stressed or overworked, schedule out a bit of time to come and visit us, throw a pot, paint some pottery, have a slice of cake, and listen to some relaxing music. We promise it will be the mental break you need.

Holly's Trip To Soller!

Wherever we go, we're always on the lookout for interesting ceramics and art. Sometimes it's unavoidable, and will follow us around on our holidays! Our potter, Holly, recently just returned from a short visit to Soller in Spain. Whilst there, she decided to pop into the train station, and lo and behold, she found herself in a Picasso Ceramics exhibition! 

One of her favourite pieces by Picasso is the quirky and fun Fish jug, which only the other day we were discussing in the shop, and to her surprise there it was in the exhibition! Holly admitted to getting a little emotional; after all, she wasn't expecting to stumble across one of her favourite pieces of pottery whilst searching for a station toilet! 

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It makes us wonder - what sort of amazing exhibitions are there out there that are waiting to be happened upon, and have you ever been pleasantly surprised to find something special somewhere you weren't expecting? 

Fringe Special! Learn to Throw a Pot! £12.50pp

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Experience the potter's wheel and learn a new skill in our friendly and inviting studio. During the Brighton Fringe Festival we are running our Learn to Throw a Pot sessions every weekend from 12th May to the 3rd June.

We will show you how and then guide you through the process of making your own pot! 

Come alone or with friends – you can even try and capture that Demi Moore & Patrick Swayze 'Ghost' moment if you'd like.

You will then leave your pot with us to be clear glazed and fired, ready to be collected three weeks later or we can post it to you for a small extra charge.

*Please note there are only eight places per session, so if you're coming with friends it's best to book at the same time to avoid disappointment.

"[The teacher] stepped back, gently cajoled and encouraged, letting my daughter do her thing, almost entirely by herself, lending a brief hand on just one or two occasions. Hence she felt very much in control of the process, and what she created she created for herself. It was a fine little pot and she even used the supplied fishing line on corks to remove the pot from the wheel at the end. Is this a review of how proud I am as a father!? Perhaps… but more a celebration of how this particular teacher gave my [daughter] space to gain her confidence."

 
 

Taster Throwing - £30pp

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But maybe you're looking for something a little more in-depth? We're still running our regular Taster Throwing sessions during the week, and they'll be back on for weekends too after the Fringe ends! In these Taster Throwing sessions, you'll have the chance to throw two pots, which you can then return to paint two weeks later.

Evening Classes - £35pp

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Want to take it to the next level? Try out one of our Evening Classes! Each class you will learn how to throw, hand build, or coil, a different piece of pottery, whether it's a set of tapas bowls, a hot chocolate mug and saucer, or a bird feeder. This also includes a return painting session.

Our Data Protection Policy - how do we store and use your information?

Here at The Painting Pottery Cafe, we like to keep our customers information to ourselves. At the end of a painting or throwing session, we will ask for your phone number and email address. This is simply just so we have a way of contacting you about your pottery if we need to. It's all stored on the paper ticket you filled out, we do not store anything online. Those paper copies are then shredded once we are done with them.

The only exception to this, is if you choose to tick 'yes' to our mailing list, or sign up for news and updates via the widget on our website. Read below to find out how each one uses and stores your information.

Subscribing via in-store shop ticket

If you tick 'yes' to the mailing list, then we will manually add your email to a list on our MailChimp account, which is what we use each month to design and send out our newsletter. You can read about their Data Protection Policy here (the short version is, they won't put your information anywhere else either - it's all private between us!). 

We do not use any third-party list integration websites like some bigger companies might, and you will always have the option at the bottom of a newsletter from us, to unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences. 

Subscribing via our website

If you enter your email on our website in the 'Sign up' box at the bottom of our website, then Squarespace, which is what we use to host and design our website, will directly import the emails to MailChimp! Squarespace will not store your information - it will always be placed for storage on our MailChimp account. You can read more about how Squarespace manage forms and newsletter storage here. Again, you will always have the option at the bottom of a newsletter from us, to unsubscribe or change your subscription preferences. 

Mark's Pick of the Week

I have chosen this vase as it brings back wonderful memories of a trip we took to Japan. You can find many traditional potters still using techniques perfected centuries ago. In fact The Great Wave, that this vase was inspired by, was first produced by Hokusai nearly 200 years ago. Amazing that it retains such a contemporary feel.

If this is your work please get in touch and you can have a free studio fee next time.

 

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Commemorative items for Hen Party Packages

If you book a hen party with us and choose packages 1 or 2, you’ll also paint a bonus item as a special memento for the Bride to be! We can help you design and decorate either a bowl or jug with your fingerprints and names. 

We'll help you put your fingerprints on your item, and if you leave it to us and we'll transform them all into beautiful little characters; be it chicks, butterflies, cats, bees, flowers, or anything else you can think of (within reason...😉).

We'll then write out your names and decorate it so the bride will never forget the people she was surrounded by at her hen party ♥️ 

Have a flick through the pictures to see some simply lovely examples we've worked with other hen's to create! 

Lady S goes to the Pavilion Ice Rink

We had great fun with Lady S at the Royal Pavilion Ice Rink last night.  We had dinner and then skated.  The staff are really friendly and helpful so for some who are not experienced skaters it is really reassuring.  Then we opened our Secret Santa Gifts to each other - needless to say we had all painted pottery for each other!

Its not too late to come and paint your Christmas Gifts.  And we have late nights on the 14th and 21st December.

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