FAQ

Please have a read through before booking, and if you have any further queries email us help@paintingpotterycafe.co.uk

the boring bit:

  • Pottery painting for 5 or less people: A deposit of £10 is taken to secure your table, which will come off the final bill.

    Pottery painting for 6 or more people (not on a party package): A deposit of £5 per person is taken to secure your table, which will come off the final bill. We charge a £5pp studio fee on the day so the deposit often covers your studio fees.

    Taster throwing/kids throwing/evening class/party packages: We ask for full payment a month in advance as your deposit. This means on the day you only need to pay for drinks/postage if needed.

    All booking payments have a 48 hour cancellation and refund policy, so if you need to change numbers, reschedule, or cancel your booking altogether, we do require this much notice before your session to be able to offer a refund or changes to your booking.

  • All bookings require at least 48 hours' notice prior to the session to cancel, reschedule, or change numbers/receive a refund. Deposits are non-refundable inside that window; as a small business, last minute no-shows hit us hard, we appreciate your understanding.

  • You have 1 month from your painting date to collect. After that we'll chase you by email and phone if you forget, with a small extension. If you still haven’t collected, unfortunately we will give away your pottery with any proceeds going to charity.

    Can't make it yourself? Send someone else in with the surname on your booking.

  • We can post finished pottery within the UK for a small fee (see individual sessions for pricing). We wrap everything carefully but can't accept responsibility for items lost or damaged in the post - the same goes for pottery once you've collected it in person.

  • 7 days a week, sessions at 10:30am, 1pm, and 3:30pm (2 hours each). On select Thursday evenings, we have adults only from 6-9pm: check our What's On for dates?

  • Pottery is individually priced and changes regularly, so we don't have a fixed price list.

    Most pieces are £20-£30 (our full selection ranges from £13-£45), plus a £5pp studio fee for glazing and firing. Expect to spend £25–£35pp on average. Any deposit paid comes off your final bill.

    For larger groups we do offer party packages, click here.

  • We provide all materials. If you want to make the most of your time, bring printed ideas - we can supply carbon and tracing paper to transfer them.

    Unfortunately our wifi is not strong enough to allow customers to use it, so make sure to save inspiration offline, or browse our wide selection of tools and books in the studio!

    See our inspiration page for ideas.

  • A studio assistant will help you pick your pottery and talk you through the paints and tools. You then have the rest of your 2-hour session to paint, with help on hand if you need it. Once you’ve finished, initial your masterpiece, leave it with us to fire, and come back a couple of weeks later to collect!

  • You can return within a month for a continuation session (£5pp studio fee off-peak, £10pp weekends/school holidays) - we just ask you take your piece home safely in the meantime, as we can't store it here.

    Alternatively, borrow up to 6 paints for £5 to finish at home before bringing it back for firing.

  • Baby prints are very welcome on weekdays with a note in your booking - mention it in the additional information. Paint is non-toxic; bring wet wipes to clean up baby at the end. We can accommodate up to 3 babies per group, no more or else studio chaos ensues (even though they’re cute!).

    During extremely busy periods we may not be able to offer hands-on help, but we will always try! Footprints are a guaranteed win; handprints can be a lot trickier.

    Pushchair space is extremely limited, so a sling or carrier is easier. We have a small baby change area downstairs.

  • Pottery painting is for all ages! Keep in mind that younger children will be finished painting a lot sooner so you may want to bring something else to distract them with if older children/adults are painting alongside.

    Under-12s must be supervised by an adult throughout. For 13-18 year olds, we'll need a contact number for a responsible adult nearby, as we can't take responsibility for unaccompanied teens, so they are left at your own risk.

  • That's totally fine if you’re accompanying painters; we can allow up to 2 non-painting guests per booking.

  • On select Thursdays each month we run an extra session where you can start anytime between 6-7pm and have until 9pm to paint. This is adults only, and for groups of 5 or less people only.

    If you’re a larger group or want to do a different evening, email us to enquire about booking a private session.
    We can only offer this on Mon/Tues/Wed evenings, and you’ll start between 6-6:30pm. We require a minimum spend of £250 to run this session. Subject to staff availability!

  • For groups of 6+ people, we recommend booking a party package - you'll get a saving on standard pricing, everything's paid upfront, and you'll be seated and painting quickly instead of losing time to picking pottery and sorting payments.

    Prefer to skip a package? Groups of 6-12 people can pick individually priced pottery on the day, plus a £5pp studio fee, paid at the end. Just bear in mind this eats into your painting time - packages tend to run much smoother for groups.

    For groups of 13 or more people you must be on a party package, we cannot offer the pick-and-pay option as above.

  • If you are on a party package you may qualify for use of the party space, you can see on this page the minimum requirements to book the party space.

    If you have chosen to not be on a package, we can only guarantee use of the party space if there are at least 14 attendees on the day. If you have your heart set on it but are less than 14 people, please contact us - we may require a £250 deposit which will come off your final bill (if your final bill is less than £250 the remainder is kept by us for booking out the party space.)

pottery painting:

the general bit:

  • We love dogs (and other creatures!) in the studio! We do ask you mention this in your booking notes, and consider the space - we are a small and busy pottery studio so we hope you can judge how well suited your pet may be to this environment. On weekends or school holidays we are especially short on space so please bear this in mind.

  • Our ground floor is level access to the street, up a very slight ramp. On this floor we offer pottery painting! Sadly due to the old nature of our rented building our wheels for throwing are down some twisty stairs, so not accessible. This is also where we will often sit parties unless requested otherwise. On our ground floor we do have level access to a toilet but it is through quite a narrow doorway and is quite small so not considered wheelchair accessible. Do contact us if you have any further questions, we are here to help!

    The width of our front door frame/studio entrance: 87.5cm
    Bathroom door frame width: 56cm
    Bathroom width: 77cm

    We can run private throwing sessions during some weekdays to accommodate ground floor throwing instead (we’ll carry the wheels up!)

  • We would recommend hand-washing pottery only to ensure it lasts as long as possible (ideally a lifetime!). The intense heat of the microwave/oven/dishwasher is never a good idea for handcrafted items so whilst your pottery is totally suitable for food/drink consumption, stick to washing it like you would a heirloom teapot passed down from Granny!

  • We are in the centre of Brighton - notoriously tricky for (affordable!) parking. We always advise coming in on public transport, we are only a 10 minute walk from the station. If you are looking for close parking, we are right between the NPC and RPC carparks but these are pricey! Save your pennies (and the environment) and catch a train in if you can.

  • We’re afraid we don’t - we can only fire ceramics made or painted in our studio.

  • All your pottery will be wrapped in some paper and put in a paper or plastic bag, however we do encourage you to bring a strong reusable bag with you when collecting, and some extra packing paper/bubblewrap can’t hurt! We cannot accept any responsibility for the safety of your pottery once it has been collected.

    We do also sell really cool (we think!) heavy-duty totes with one of our murals on which you can purchase on collection - it will even come with a discount if you’ve painted with us!

  • We serve cold drinks, coffee by Small Batch Coffee, and homemade cakes by GOSH Patisserie. We encourage you not to bring outside hot/cold drinks with you and to instead use our cafe service. However you're welcome to BYOBooze - just take any empties with you.

taster throwing & evening classes:

  • TASTER THROWING: 

    Saturdays & Sundays, 10:30am & 1:30pm.

    £35pp, max 5 people, 45 minutes on the wheel with our potter. Ages 12+ only.

    Option to return and paint your piece - see our taster throwing page for pricing.

    EVENING CLASSES:

    Select Thursdays, 6-9pm.

    £50pp, 3 hours, themed (planters, lanterns, mugs, etc). Ages 18+.

    Leave it glazed clear, or return to paint for £5pp (off-peak) / £10pp (weekends & holidays).

    KIDS TASTER THROWING:

    Select days in school holidays, 11am & 2pm.

    £20pp, 45 minutes on the wheel with our pottery. Ages 8-12 yrs only.

    Option to return and paint your piece - see our kids throwing page for pricing.

    All clay sessions are downstairs, accessible only by some twisty stairs.

  • We recommend wearing flat shoes, and if you have long hair something to tie it back with. Don’t get a fancy manicure the day before your class as long nails make throwing trickier! All clay washes out of clothes and we provide aprons.

  • Taster Throwing Option 1: 4 weeks after session.

    Taster Throwing Option 2 and 3: return to paint after 3 weeks, then collect 12 days after painting.

    Evening Class: If not painting, 4 weeks later, if painting, as above for taster throwing option 2/3.

  • With handmade items - especially evening class pottery which we cannot post - we would urge you to collect in person. With taster throwing we may be able to offer postage for £6pp. We cannot accept responsibility for items being damaged in the post.

  • With our throwing classes it’s unlikely you’ll have the chance to have a drink/eat as the session is shorter and you spend most of it covered in clay!

    Evening Classes you may BYOB or order a cuppa/soft drink from us.

  • Taster Throwing: ages 12+ yrs

    Evening Classes: ages 18+ yrs

    Kids Taster Throwing: ages 8-12 yrs