Pottery Pad, Orlando

The plate beneath a meal can say as much about the chef as the ingredients in it, especially when that chef is also the plate’s artist. The sculptors at Pottery Pad offer that chance to dish users of all ages, providing the paint, workspace, glaze, and kiln to finish off premade clayware. They produce mugs, cereal bowls, and even pet dishes, arranging the sculpted products in neat rows around the circumference of their room. In the middle, long tables covered in palettes and pools of paint await the presence of a creative mind to turn each dish into a work of art.

The staff hosts individuals, birthday parties, and even entire scout troops, keeping careful track of each participant's wares. At the end of sessions, they collect the painted pieces and ready them for a trip into their 1,800-degree kiln. Once the firing is finished, they call up the piece's owner to let them know its ready and warn them to blow on it before use.