Courtesy Children try their hand at painting pottery during a party at Whoddily Pottery Studio in Flint

BETTY WATERS, blw@tylerpaper.com

Suzy Trimble first went to Whodidly Paint Your Own Pottery Studio in Flint for her 5-year-old granddaughter’s birthday party. It piqued her interest enough she went back to paint for herself.

“I think it’s a great little place for kids or adults,” she said of the studio with a whimsical name.

“The birthday party was very well organized; I was really impressed,” Trimble said. Her granddaughter had fun painting a cheerleader figurine; children selected other items to make during the party.

Trimble revisited the pottery several times with her daughter. “It was fun doing something together and, at the same time, visit with the women (who staff the pottery). They are very personable and helpful. I made Christmas ornaments for all of my family for this Christmas,” Trimble said. “It’s real relaxing.”

Whodidly Pottery Studio opened last July for walk-ins from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday through Saturday, but schedules parties any day of the week and at night.

A wide variety of groups make appointments for parties at the studio for different purposes ‑‑ birthdays, anniversaries, sororities, date nights, ladies nights out, churches, offices, scouts, childcare facilities, bridal and baby showers, MOPS groups, homeschool groups and others.

Everyone comes to the studio, except when staff takes pottery and paint to special needs groups, such as residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. “It’s good therapy for them. It’s good for them to use their hands,” said Amy Bass, co-owner of Whodidly Pottery with Crystal Bohan.

“My mom and I used to paint Santa Clauses together and other things. I ended up loving it,” Bass said. “I learned from my mother and a lady in Chapel Hill, who taught me how to glaze and how to fire a kiln.” She previously owned Piddlin’ Pottery in Tyler for 11 years, sold it and, three years later, decided to get back into pottery with a friend, Bohanon, because she missed the art and people.

The brightly decorated, 1,000-square-foot Whodidly Pottery is housed in a complex of warehouses at 17968 Farm to Market Road 2493. It has central heat, air and a bathroom.

Racks of pottery, called bisque ‑ clay that has already been fired once ‑ line two sides of the warehouse, with one side displaying items suitable for adults, while the other side has items for children. Everything is ready to paint.

On the shelves is a broad assortment of more than 1,000 pieces of pottery – plates, platters, bowls, wine glasses, dog and cat treat jars, garden ornaments, coffee mugs and others for every special occasion, such as reindeer cookie jars, Christmas ornaments, bunnies for Easter and heart-shaped items for Valentine’s Day.

“The coffee mugs and cookie jars are wonderful gifts around the holidays,” Bass said, as well as platters with the handprints and/or footprints of young children and infants.

Children can choose pottery shaped like banks, footballs, rubber duckies, puppies dogs, cats, four-wheelers, horses, pigs, fairies, cheerleaders, ballerinas, monkeys, treasure chests, drag- racing cars and other items.

Every piece on the adult shelves has a price written on the bottom, ranging from $10 to $45, plus tax. All children’s items are $14 each, plus tax.

The price includes the item, paint, use of the studio to paint the pottery and firing it in a kiln.

“When you come, you pick a piece of pottery you want to paint. You pick whatever colors you want. You go to whatever table you pick. We pour paint straight onto the table,” Bass said. “It’s easy to clean up.”

A staff assists customers as they sit at a table and paint. “I explain to them that everything takes three coats of paint. That three coats is super duper important to make the paint look thick and solid,” Bass said.

The studio uses paint, purchased through a wholesaler, that is nontoxic and washes off easily if it gets on clothing.

After customers paint their piece, the bisque sits for 24 hours. Then, the staff dip it in a glaze and let it dry before putting the piece in a kiln. The piece bakes between seven and eight hours at temperatures up to 1,828 degrees. It takes at least 24 hours to cool down.

In a week, the finished product is ready to be picked up, except if customers want custom writing, which takes three weeks.

The staff are very professional and make the atmosphere fun, said Laura Dean, a teacher at Tyler Montessori School, where Bass took supplies for its 143 students to make hand and footprints on tiles parents could purchase as part of a fund-raising project for the school. “The tiles were adorable,” Dean said.

In an outgrowth of that project, Dean got together a dozen fellow teachers and friends from church and high school for a girls’ night out at the pottery studio for each to paint their own piece.

Besides attracting individuals and groups, the studio is a gathering place for families to enjoy time together while being creative.

Parents like to sit down and paint during a birthday party for their child. A mother and dad recently painted seven or eight coffee mugs with their kids and the dad ended up staying and painting his own coffee mug after the mom took the kids home.

Women, who come for wine night, set up wine and cheese they will have while painting.

At baby showers, attendees make pottery which is part of their gift for the mother-to-be.

Birthday parties usually last about an hour and a half. Women’s groups usually last two hours, but can go longer.

“You don’t need artistic ability to come in here,” Bass said. Even if people think they don’t have artistic ability, they see something that inspires them when they get in and they come up with ideas they like,” she said.

“A lady kept saying she has no artistic ability at all. She painted an ice cream dish brown with spots all over it. Hers turned out very cute,” Bass said. Another woman, who said she cannot paint, ended up with a cute wine glass after painting the top white with black polka dots, the stem red and putting the letter “S” on it, Bass recalled.

Twitter: Betty@TMT