FAQ

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

general:

  • 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. 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!

    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’re afraid that if you didn’t let us know with at least 48 hours notice before the session then any payment made has to be retained by us. As a small business it hits us hard when customers don’t show up, especially if we had to refund every deposit last minute. Please be understanding and respect our cancellation policy.

  • We make exhaustive attempts to contact all customers by email and phone. These items are donated to charity if we do not hear back from you, you agree and acknowledge this when you book in.

  • 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.

  • We won’t contact you when your pottery is ready, however we do quote a 10-14 day (usually) turnaround at the end of the session for pottery painting. Weekends are very busy and wait times for collecting will be longer; generally the best times to collect are 11am-12pm, 1:30-2:30pm, and 4pm-5pm. Please be patient when collecting, we have lots to look through. You will need the surname of the booking to collect.

    If you can’t collect please send someone else. We will chase up anyone who hasn’t collected after a month by email and phone, but if we do not hear back from you after then we will sadly have to donate your pottery to charity.

  • 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!

pottery painting -
small groups
(5 or less people):

  • We recommend booking in for all of our sessions, especially at weekends and during school holidays. Any payment made via our booking system will come off the final bill - in most cases this is a £10 deposit.

    Our painting sessions are 7 days a week, starting at either 10:30am, 1pm, or 3:30pm (on select Thursdays of each month we run extra sessions between 6pm-9pm, check our What’s On? page). Each session is usually 2 hours.

    We have a huge range of pottery to choose from which is all individually priced, but you can expect to spend around £25-£30 per person with options above and below that. At your session you will start by picking out your pottery, a studio assistant will then fetch your pottery and talk you through how the paints work and all the tools we have to decorate. You then have the rest of your session to paint, and we will be on hand to assist with any questions you may have! We serve hot and cold drinks as well as a small range of delicious homemade cakes but you may also BYOB (bring your own booze - but please take any empties away with you!).

    Once painted, we glaze and fire your pottery ready for collection around 8-10 days later. We can post items for an extra fee within the UK only but cannot accept responsibility or offer compensation/refunds for breakages/lost post.

  • To book please click here. We strongly recommend booking rather than just showing up, especially during weekends or school holidays. If you have any queries before booking please email, we’re often quite busy in the shop and can’t get to the phone!

    Our emails sometimes filter into junk folders so always check there if you are expecting a response from us.

  • All of our pottery is individually priced and stock regularly changes so we do not have a price list. You’ll find most items are between £20-£26, including the classics such as mugs, bowls, and plates, however we do have items either side of this price, starting at £13 and going up to £45. Please note, you pay a £5 per painter studio fee for the cost of firing and glazing. If you paid a booking deposit this will come off the final bill. Expect to spend on average £25-£30 per person.

    Querying the cost? We are a small, independant business doing our best in a tough climate. We’d like to think this is both a lovely experience (we hope!) for a couple of hours, as well as leaving you with a memento you can keep for many years.

  • We provide all the materials you may need, but if you want to make the most of your painting time, you could come with your ideas printed out if you can. We can provide you with some carbon paper and tracing paper if you need it and show you how to transfer it to your pottery. Check out our inspiration page featuring beautiful pottery painted by previous customers.

  • Painting sessions are up to 2 hours. We often cannot extend the session as there may be someone booked onto your table after you. If you do not finish we can offer a returning session another day (within a month of your first visit), for which you’ll pay an extra £5 studio fee during quiet times, or £10 during weekends and school holidays. You must take your piece home for safekeeping between sessions, as we do not have space to store it here. Alternatively you may choose paints to take home with you and pay an extra £5 to borrow up to 6 paints to finish it off at home before bringing it back in for firing.

    We would recommend coming with some ideas of what you want to paint and some inspiration - often just sitting there thinking about what to paint takes up a good 20 minutes!!

  • Come on a weekday and a studio assistant should be able to help you so long as you have pre-booked. Hands are notoriously tricky, but we are always excited to get cute little baby footprints on pottery! We will always be up to give hands a go in a colour that is easily removed if it doesn’t go well - then we can put a footprint there instead! The paint is non-toxic, but please bring wet wipes with you to clean the little ‘un afterwards! We may be able to help with writing too, just ask at the session.

    We will always try but may not be able to offer any extra assistance during busy times. Please note you want to do prints in the additional information of your booking.

    We are also a small studio so cannot accommodate very much space for pushchairs - if possible do use a sling or carrier instead. We have a small baby change area down some stairs.

    We cannot host more than 3 babies in one group at the same time just to make things more manageable and enjoyable for you, as well as for our other customers!

  • Pottery painting is for all ages! From the smallest baby doing sweet footprints, to granny who has a dresser full of painted pottery collected over the years, we welcome all. Whilst painting sessions are 2 hours long, children under 8 are likely to be finished much quicker.

    We require anyone under the age of 12 to be accompanied by a supervising adult, even if they aren’t painting. Teenagers between the ages of 13-18 we cannot accept any responsibility for, and we will require a contact number for a responsible adult who is in the nearby area.

  • We totally understand sometimes you want to sit back and have a brew whilst the kids are distracted painting - and that’s totally fine! We do ask however that no more than 2 ‘non-painters’ come per booking - we are a small studio and depend on the seats that are being sat on to be painting customers generally!

pottery painting -
large groups
(6+ people):

  • Find out everything you might need to know here!

    Our painting sessions are 7 days a week, starting at either 10:30am, 1pm, or 3:30pm. Each session is 2 hours.

    There are a few options for groups of 6 or more - we would recommend booking a party package as it will offer a small saving per person, as well as give you the option to reserve our private party space if you have enough numbers(check each package for min requirement.)

    If you can’t all agree on a package, you can instead pay a £5pp deposit to secure a table, then all pick and pay for the full range of pottery we have on our shelves on the day. You can book this here. We cannot offer the private space for this option unless you are a group of 14 or more.

  • We provide all the materials you may need, but if you want to make the most of your painting time, you could come with your ideas printed out if you can. We can provide you with some carbon paper and tracing paper if you need it and show you how to transfer it to your pottery. Check out our inspiration page featuring beautiful pottery painted by previous customers.

  • Pottery will be ready 8-10 days after the day of painting*, and you then have 1 month to return and collect. Package 7 takes 3 weeks to be ready. It is very important to us that you collect your pottery within the given time. We are only a small shop and need the space to keep your pottery safe! If you can’t collect please send someone else.  We will chase up anyone who hasn’t collected after a month by email and phone, but if we do not hear back from you after then we will sadly have to donate your pottery to charity.

    At weekends the studio is exceptionally busy and it isn’t always easy to quickly locate your pottery so we do ask where possible to collect on a weekday between 10:30am-5:30pm if you can. Expect longer waits at the weekend.

    *during busy periods turnaround is usually 10 days

  • We can post your items to you for a small extra cost if you are unable to collect. If there are more than 6 pieces it will usually be between £2.50-£3.50 per person depending on the size and quantity of what you need posted and this is within the UK only. They must all be sent to the same address.

    We would always prefer for you to collect your pottery instead, but safely send hundreds of parcels a year so this is always an option! We cannot post huge plates and bowls for obvious reasons.

    We will thoroughly wrap and pack your pieces but cannot accept any responsibility for breakages or lost parcels in the post.

  • We run a cafe service for hot and cold drinks, and a small selection of cakes provided by GOSH patisserie including vegan and gluten-free options. Our delicious coffee is from Small Batch coffee roasters. You can BYOB (bring your own booze); we have glasses you can use, just ask!

    If bringing food we would like to remind you that the 2 hour session can go quickly, so we do recommend prioritising your time for pottery painting. It’s also suggested that you avoid bringing greasy food as the residue can affect the glazing process. If you do bring any of your own food/drink, we ask you to take any of the remaining rubbish with you at the end of the session.

  • If you’re on a party package, we ask for full payment a month in advance. This means on the day you only need to pay for drinks/postage if needed.

    If you’re just on a group deposit booking, the £5pp deposit will cover each persons studio fee on the day, leaving only the pottery, drinks, or postage to pay for on the day.

    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.

  • Book in on a weekday evening for your group to have a private session! Start between 6-7pm, we require a minimum spend of £250 to run this private session. Subject to staff availability!

taster throwing & evening classes:

  • On weekends we run taster throwing sessions (book here!) at 10:30am and 1:30pm, so you can learn how to throw on the potters wheel! Just £35pp, with a maximum of 5 people in your class, you’ll be shown by our potter how to make a small bowl/beaker, and then get to have a go yourself. There’s options to pay a little extra to return to paint which you can read more about on our taster throwing page. 12+ years only, but during school holidays book for ages 8-12 years here!

    On select Thursdays we run stand-alone evening classes (book here!) from 6-9pm for £50pp. Each one has a theme - whether its planters, lanterns, mugs etc. Have it clear glazed shiny white, or come back to paint for £5pp during quiet times, or £10pp on weekends/school holidays.

    Taster Throwing is about 45 minutes long, evening classes are 3 hours long, and all only accessible by stairs. 18+ years only.

  • 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 8-10 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