Had such an amazing and relaxing time with my daughter! Savi was our instructor. She was clear, concise and encouraging. Sophia also helped me over the phone as I accidentally booked two adult classes for me and my six year old. She was so kind and walked me through my options and gave me a call back too. Thank you for a sweet and memorable time! read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

My wife paid for a class here as a surprise for our 9th wedding anniversary. A family situation came up, so we called ahead -- we were told on the phone that they would take us as long as we got there within 10 minutes. We rushed. My wife got out of the car and was at the door inside that window. They wouldn't let her in without me, and I was still parking. I walked in 11 minutes after the start -- one minute past their cutoff. There were maybe four to six people in the room. I explained the family situation involving my son. I told them it was our anniversary. My wife was distraught, and I pleaded with them and tried to reason with them. They turned us away anyway. We weren't asking anyone to slow the class down or stay late -- we would have caught up on our own. My wife left humiliated on the day she had planned as a gift. I get it -- you have to run a business, and you have to start on time. But she was there inside the window you gave us and you wouldn't seat her. It came down to one minute and two people standing in front of you, and you chose the minute. The class started without us. So did the last impression I'll have of this place. read more

It's clear the employees here are very passionate about pottery however that's about it. Customer service is really bad here. We took the one-time pottery class and it's nearly impossible to get ahold of them. After your class you're supposed to get an email a few weeks later to schedule glazing. I never got the email, had to reach out twice to get any contact. Then after glazing you're supposed to get another email to pick up your pieces. Guess what, I never got it and had to reach out again. Overall it took us over 3 months from the first class to get our pieces. It's a great concept and fun but would not recommend this business to anyone. read more

Took my mom to I took my mom to a pottery class for Mother's Day. It was both of our first times, and we had a great time together. The teacher we had was very helpful and patient. We struggled with forming some of our pieces, so she assisted us in fixing them. They emailed us to inform us when we can glaze our creations and when we can pick them up. We will definitely sign up for another class here. read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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IF YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO GET BACK YOUR CERAMIC PIECE YOUVE MADE, AVOID THIS PLACE!!!I'm extremely dissatisfied with my experience at Artime Barro. I drove an hour just to pick up my ceramic piece, only to arrive and be told that they couldn't find it. I was told that it had either been misplaced or was somewhere in the store, and that they would have to search the entire store for it. After driving such a long distance and over an hour, it was extremely frustrating and disappointing to find out that my piece wasn't ready or properly accounted for. I understand that mistakes can happen, but there should be better organization and communication when it comes to customers' pieces. Overall, this experience was very inconvenient and left me extremely disappointed. I still don't have my piece. read more

I came here with a friend for the one-time pottery class and had such a great experience. The studio is tucked away in the back end of The Camp and is located in a super cute area. We came during the week around midday, so parking was easy to find, but if you're coming on a weekend or in the evening, I'd recommend arriving early since parking is limited. Our instructor, Sage, was incredibly friendly and helpful, guiding us through the entire pottery-making process and making it feel approachable even for beginners. We made two pieces total--one hand-built and one thrown on the wheel--which was really fun and exciting to try. The whole experience was creative, relaxing, and unique. I would definitely recommend this class and will be suggesting it to friends and family! read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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My husband and I had a date day and booked the Wheel Thrown Planter Class. We both had a great time! our instructor Sophia is very passionate with pottery, gave great tips, and helped create our planters. She was very sweet and encouraging for first timers trying the pottery wheel. read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We found a Groupon deal for a one time class, you save about $10-15 so I highly recommend the deal. You get to create two pieces: by hand and by the pottery wheel. You don't get that much clay, a good thought to keep in mind when trying to brainstorm what to create. I thought that there would be more clay, so I tried making a matcha bowl (pottery wheel) and a garlic grater (by hand). A small cup/bowl and plate are more realistic. The first session starts with the instructor demonstrating the projects. Then you get the remaining time split between the two. Next, you wait for them to fire up items, takes about two weeks. You can choose to paint (glaze) items yourself or they can do it for it. We came back to paint the items and they were super cute before the final glaze. We didn't realize the paint spreads to look like almost chalky. The emails they send are very generic and a little confusing, I think they can improve on being more specific on that information. Still a really cute activity to do and it's not too expensive for the experience. ig: @cravingswithcat read more

ARTime BARRO - Final Product (ig: @cravingswithcat) - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Avoid this pottery studio if you actually want to leave with the artwork you created! My friend and I came here for two separate sessions--one to make our pottery and another to paint it. We each painted two pieces and spent hours carefully designing them. My friend painted a duck on one of hers, and I painted starfish on one piece and hearts over a striped background on the other. After waiting about two weeks for glazing, we came back to pick them up, and I was honestly shocked. Our pottery was completely ruined. The glaze had melted and distorted the paint so badly that the designs are barely recognizable. The duck is warped beyond recognition, the starfish are melted together, and my striped background looks like someone smeared all of the paint before it dried. They honestly look nothing like what we painted. After spending so much time on them, it was heartbreaking to see. When we complained, the only response we got was, "It happens sometimes because the kiln gets hot." ...What? If that's normal, why did every other piece on the shelves look perfectly fine? Ours were among the only ones that looked completely destroyed. This doesn't seem like a random occurrence--it looks like our pieces were glazed or fired incorrectly. Then they told us they "don't recommend small designs because they can bleed." That would've been great information before we spent hours painting, not after our artwork had already been ruined. It wasn't just the designs that melted. The entire striped background ran together, and large designs like the border were destroyed too. This experience was incredibly disappointing, and I absolutely would not recommend this studio. read more

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Great service! Very attentive, accommodating and collaborative instructors. Our group of 7 had a good team building event at the store. Everyone had fun, relaxing and tapping into our creative side. We each get 2 pieces: a hand piece and a wheel piece. read more

ARTime BARRO - Clay made by hand - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

My sisters and I came here for some bonding time. We had about a 30 minute session on the ceramics wheel then we have about 30 minutes free hand sculpting. In total we made two pieces and I think it was $49 per person. Once completed, we had the option for the shop to glaze the pieces or we can come and glaze ourself. My sisters didn't want to come back but I did. Overall a fun experience because I've never worked with clay before. Above all else it was great to spend time with the sisters. Please come and create your own adventure. read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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I'm updating my review as Sage has reached out to assist with trying to schedule our glazing appointment. Our party was unable to get together at the times offered, but it was appreciated that she tried to help us. Additionally, Sara's response to my review was thoughtful and sincere without making excuses. Supporting artists and small businesses is important. I was not going to leave a negative review after just the initial experience, but with everything culminated together it was frustrating. Please do give ARTime a try, keeping in mind some of the points I brought up regarding parking and follow up to ensure you have a smoother experience. read more

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after paying $50 for this class, we came back weeks later to paint and then weeks later to pick up our pieces. my piece was fired with another person's piece so now someone's balls are STUCK to my bowl, rendering it unusable. don't know how that even happened when we left it obviously separated. i liked my class and my instructor was nice but this studio is unprofessional and could use better management and organization. also, my friend's bowl was cracked and unusable as well. read more

ARTime BARRO - the piece i gave them after painting - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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Came here for a group event to make pottery first week in November. Just now picking up my pieces because of endless delays. When I walked in, I wasn't even greeted by anyone and when I said hello to a worker, they didn't acknowledge me. I told one of the workers that I was there for a pick up and she hardly acknowledged me. She responded and pointed with 'all pick ups are on that wall, sorted by first names.' She didn't even offer to help me. I walk over to the wall to see that there are probably over 100 pieces ready for pickup. (My group's pieces ended up not even being where she told me to look and someone else had to help me.) Their customer service is beyond disappointing and at BEST average. Extremely difficult to get in contact with this place. One of my pieces came back badly cracked and was told 'it can happen if the piece is too thin.' Wish the instructor told us that during class. There are for sure better places out there. Skip this one!! read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

had a great time for my first pottery class! all the instructors were very thoughtful and informative on each step and made sure to answer any questions we had. this class was a surprise gift for me so i didn't know i had to cut my nails for it! luckily they offer alternative solutions to making sure your clay is not damaged by fingernail spots. excited to come back to glaze / paint my mug! read more

Tried ceramics for the first time with a group of 5. The one time class includes a piece on the wheel, a piece on the table, and glazing after a few weeks. We took our class with KJ and had so much fun! She was very helpful for us beginners and guided us through the whole process. She kept the class light and was very friendly. You get 30 minutes making a piece on the table & 30 minutes on the wheel (depending on how long you take on each). Wish the class was longer but it is only slotted out for an hour. Looking forward to coming back for the glazing! read more

ARTime BARRO - One time class for 5 people - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

We arrived at the earliest reservation (11 AM) and ended up having a private lesson since the other reservations did not show up. Parking is pretty limited, so prepare to come early to secure parking. Both my girlfriend and I had little to no experience beforehand, but our instructor led us through the fundamentals seamlessly. We ended up making two pottery pieces -- One pinch pot and one with the wheel. Our pieces definitely had wabi sabi, but in the end we were pleased with our creations. The class was 1 hour long, but we did not feel rushed. We are excited to come back and glaze our pieces in 2 weeks! Thank you for helping us make our cat bowls! read more

We took a class with ARTime Barro previously at the Laguna location, which was super fun! We booked a 1 hour class at the Costa Mesa location because our previous experience was so good, but we had to wait 10 minutes past our appointment time. We understand things happen, but our class time was cut short because there was another class coming in after ours. We also felt instruction this time around was not very clear, and the instructor kept using one of our pieces as the example, so we felt we didn't really do some of the work ourselves. We do appreciate the extra assistance if we were struggling with our piece, but it would've been more productive if we could watch the instructor demonstrate the task on their own bat instead of ours. We also wish there was more freedom this time around with glazing, because at our previous class we were able to come in to glaze our own pieces, but this time around the only option was so have the staff glaze our pieces and to pick it up later, so not really worth the entire price for just an hour of our time & limited creative freedom. read more

Such a fun date idea! I signed up for the one hour adult class, where you get to make two pieces, one on the table, and one on the wheel. It was a little rushed to get both done in an hour, but I didn't mind. Since this was my first time, it was a good way to just get an overview of everything so that I could see if I wanted to return and sign up for more classes (and learn a little more technique). If you go on the weekends, parking may be a little tough as they share the lot with some other popular business and bars, so plan accordingly (especially if you want to take advantage of the one hour you get to make your two pieces). Highly recommend as a group activity! read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Did a beginner class here and it was both so fun and therapeutic. Sage did a fabulous job teaching. It was the perfect balance of hands on and letting you do your own thing and be creative. It's very organized and easy to book online. Would definitely recommend!! Parking can be tough at different times so just give yourself like 5-10 mins to park. There is a parking lot right in front of it as well. read more

This place is so cool I'm So glad I found it. I was a little nervous at first but the instructor is so nice and patient, me and my mom had a great time. Will definitely be back and this is definitely a must whether you go with family, friend, or significant other ! read more

I'm super mad with my final result. Tbh, this isn't my first time doing pottery, so I came in fully aware that some imperfections can happen due to the firing process. But this should not have turned out such a total mess. The colors, especially the pink, came out way too light -- as you can clearly see. I even applied an extra layer, despite being told by the staff that two coats were good to go. I did everything I was supposed to. I saw another response from the owner justifying the results on applying too many layers. Then how do you explain that the flowers inside my cup and the tulip -- which were the last layers I painted -- still showed up just fine? That excuse doesn't add up. Also, it's your responsibility to guide staff properly, not just leave a brief instruction sheet and walk away. We were only checked on once during the whole session. I've done pottery at other places, and their results speak for themselves -- much higher quality in color. When I asked your staff about the issue, they casually brushed it off with, "Yeah, it lost the color," like it was no big deal. That attitude honestly made it worse. Is that how you handle dissatisfied customers? On top of that, the communication around scheduling the glazing date was completely unprofessional. We were told to wait for an email, which never came nearly a month. We had to follow up multiple times via email and phone -- back and forth to get a date set. Seemed like none of you had no idea at all!! Also no email about picking up, call to get the answer just walk in. I'm giving one extra star because our first pottery session itself went smoothly. read more

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I have mixed feelings about my experience at ARTime Barro. I did my first ever beginner class as a self care day. I would say we spent majority of the class making the first clay piece. It was maybe 10 minutes total on the wheel. I was pretty excited for my pieces. For the clay piece, I wanted to create a tray with my last name on it. I asked advice to the teacher on the design and how to make the clay stick together. I asked if they could glaze it for me. When I picked up my piece, there were missing pieces :( you can see the before and after photo. The class overall was alright. I'm very mostly disappointed in the outcome of the piece. I wish it turned out like how I initially made it. read more

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Had a blast at my first ever beginners class! Sofia was our instructor and she was so fun and sweet! Gave great instructions and super helpful. She made me feel comfortable and at ease to create! The class flew by! I could've stayed for another 5 hours. Can't wait to go back and glaze my pieces! So happy to have discovered a new love for ceramics! read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Girl, unfamiliar with ceramics? Familiar enough to know that this was done not properly. It sounds like you guys have your excuses down proper when you destroy people's pieces. Again, if this were the case with ceramics, then you would see this nearly every time you went to color me mine or watched somebody pull something out of a kiln. This is happening because they're hiring people who aren't trained properly and who don't know what they're doing or don't care what they're doing. read more

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What a fun beginners class! Sage is the best instructor, a magician! She made everything look so easy and she's also encouraging even though I knew I wasn't doing too hot LOL I would definitely come back! **Pro tip: cut your nails!! My fault for not reading the email thoroughly so I kept punctuating holes read more

ARTime BARRO - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Sad to say that my partner, friend, and I had a pretty negative experience at this location. Perhaps the other two ARTime locations in OC are more friendly, so I would recommend trying your luck there. At our beginner's class, we were met with an oddly hostile instructor. There are myriad ways I could describe this person's teaching style, but to be brief, I would call it "impatient," "aggressive," and "disgusted by the existence of other humans." Given that she was teaching a beginner's class, I assumed that she would be prepared to demonstrate techniques and provide ample explanation of basic concepts, but she only offered vague instruction and expressed frustration when we made mistakes we didn't know we were making (you know, because we'd never done it before). The instructor spent most of the time on her phone while we improvised our way through our projects, which you'd think would be a bad thing, except that she was so visibly upset by our existence that we preferred when she was distracted by texting and TikTok. When she was paying attention to us, it was to reprimand us for our sloppy technique, take over our project because it was "just easier for her to do it," or both. I knew the shop was closing soon because we were all but pushed out the door. We were scheduled for an hour appointment to learn pottery, but the teacher had us washed up and out the door in 40 minutes. I remember checking the clock as I was cleaning up because this woman was so adamant that we needed to hurry. I was willing to write it off as a bad day (we've all been there), except that our next glazing appointment was a similar experience. At least with the glazing, the employees leave you alone to paint quietly, but the negative vibes from teacher were crazy (and it wasn't even the same person). She seemed frustrated by even the most banal and innocent questions. At least that time, there was a second employee working who was very kind and helpful. She was more than happy to help my friend understand the glazing process and provide tips and advice. She's also the reason this isn't a one-star review. That, and all the excellent food and drink options adjacent to this location. In summary, you should definitely give pottery a try if you've never done it, but 100% do not do it here. I was in the Air Force for six years and this place gave me PTSD flashbacks to Basic Training. Maybe my experience was a fluke, but why take that chance when you can go anywhere else? read more

If you're on the fence about spending the money on taking a class here, I recommend looking it up on Groupon (about $40). They sell classes at a much cheaper rate. Also, it's a joy to take a class with friends. It's a nice bonding experience, too. What's extra nice is to walk to the many restaurants before or after the class. I recommend planning brunch and then the class as to not get messy lol. The class itself is informative. I recommend being the first group to go on the wheel as that is more time consuming than the pinch pot l. I chose for them to paint and glaze. Next time, I'm choosing to do the painting of the pots (doesn't cost extra, just have to setup an appointment). read more

Did a beginner pottery class here and it was a great first experience! $45 for 1 hour is a bit pricey but it's a good foot in the door to literally get your hands dirty with some clay. Our instructor was very very nice and it was fun making two little pots with her. There's a lot of good food and drinks nearby too so we just hopped over to The Camp and hung out for a bit. For an entry level 1 time thing it's a fun activity but tbh if I was genuinely interested in pottery I might look into something with more classes/more time read more

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My friend took me to a pottery class at ARTime Barro for my birthday, and I absolutely loved it! The class was small and intimate, and the instructor was incredible! She was super personable and patient, and by the end of the class, I was seriously considering signing up for a program to actually learn how to create my own pottery. HOWEVER, I am extremely disappointed in the final product created. After finishing the work on the wheel, we were told to pick our colors for our pots and they would glaze it for us. When my friend picked up our pots a month later, the glaze was extremely sloppy and even completely missing from certain parts of the pot. It was very upsetting as I was really looking forward to having a pot that I made and now I'm almost embarrassed given how obviously shoddy the glaze is. Tldr the class itself is great, but don't expect an amazing final product. The worst part of my pot is the glaze done by the artists. read more

ARTime BARRO - Pot with shoddy glaze - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

So much fun and learned a lot about making pottery! This was a fun adventure with a few friends. read more

ARTime BARRO - The piece that I made. - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

Love this place. Such a cute spot with wonderful staff. So helpful, patient and thorough. Parking can be tight but people come and go often. I grabbed a coffee next door and made some pottery! 1 hour class, easy and simple. read more

I have mixed feelings about Artime Barro. I have been for a one time class and got the monthly membership only for one month. I was hoping to build my skills and with no prior experience and build some keepsake pieces. Ultimately, the only thing consistent about artime barro is that it is not consistent. For my one time class, my friend and I had a great time and it was super fun to dip our toes into a new activity. When we got the email to pick up our items, my friends weren't actually ready and we had to wait another week. For my ongoing classes, despite booking all my classes with the same instructor, each time I got someone new so I wasn't able to consistently build my skills. I understand things happen and life gets in the way of schedules, but it was difficult to work towards the same goal each week because each instructor specializes in different methods and would instruct me to do different things. I would not recommend the ongoing class to someone without prior experience. I really enjoyed my time with Sage, Kaelene and Chloe as they were always so sweet, encouraging and attentive as instructors. I would recommend one of them if you were thinking of taking a class. I had the very opposite experience with Mia as she was rude, condescending, and unprofessional in the one day I worked with her. I would only suggest the one time class to those interested. read more

My friends and I decided to do a fun activity for our friendsmas this year and stumbled upon ARTime Barro. We purchased tickets on their website for $45 each. Our group of 3 ended up being the only group there so it felt nice and intimate. We were given the choice of aprons to start then proceeded to mold clay, by hand, on a table into our desired piece. Our instructor Sage was great! She was patient, engaging, educational, and you can tell she really enjoys what she does - stepping in to help us as needed. After we were done with our table piece, we moved on to the wheel to create another piece & Sage continued to give us useful tips and made sure to watch us to make sure our pieces came out nice and as we'd like. Highly recommend this studio, a cute and clean hidden gem with parking. In 2 weeks time, one can set an appointment to glaze (paint) pieces that's included in the price. Cant wait to see how this turns out! read more

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It was so much fun! My husband and I had never gone to do something like this. It was a wonderful experience, we actually thought it went by too fast, but it was great. Our instructor was Sophia! She is super sweet and knowledgeable and helped me a ton because I had longer nails lol! She was a very sweet soul and very patient with all of us! Thank you Sophia! read more

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Mixed feelings about our Saturday night at ARTime Barro. On the one hand, there's nothing quite so fun as playing with mud (yes, I admit had to look up Barro because my Spanglish isn't quite that good - clever name). It was my first time sitting down at a potter's wheel and this class was the best teaser - now I want to do it all the time. On the other hand, it was not a very welcoming place. We arrived on time. One person was leaving from the previous class and the three employees were chatting and moving some things around. No one greeted us or asked if we were there for the next class so we just stood there awkwardly. They waited 10 minutes to see if the other people signed up would show which they didn't. Once the class started, our interaction with the teachers was just fine but not a good start on customer service. The "Wheel Thrown Planter Class" was setup as an intro to throwing clay - the instructor gave a 5-10 minute demonstration and then we copied what she had done on our own pieces. We made a small planter pot and a saucer to go with it. Very simple which worked for me as a firstimer. The person I went with had thrown years ago and found it a little too simple for his enjoyment. A note on value - it was $62 per person for a 1-hour class. The time we were actually at the wheel was about 20 minutes. Factoring in the cost of clay, the instruction, and most of all the rental space in very popular hipster brewery row in Costa Mesa, I can understand the price. But I left feeling unsatisfied - it was like paying too much money for a 2--minute roller coaster and wanting to go on again and again. It was fun but just too short to really enjoy. I think if I'd had the option to pay for an extra hunk or two of clay and used the rest of the hour for another piece, I would have been happier. Overall, I'm happy I went but probably won't return or recommend it based on my experience with the people. It felt like we were intruding on their space rather than being welcomed into it to learn. That being said, if you're looking for a fun activity to insert into a date night or friend hangout at The Camp/Randolph Ave Brewery Row, this is a good option. read more

ARTime BARRO - Planter class with saucer - Art Classes Near Me - Costa Mesa, California

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I went there recently with my friend and booked an experience. We did 30 minutes of hand building and 30 minutes of throwing in total a 1 hour class. I felt like it wasn't enough time to genuinley enjoy and understand the concept it felt rushed. The instructor was not really teaching. We decided to glaze our own peices so we had to go back and the instructor was counting down the minutes, they just wanted us out of there. I would highly reccomend shopping around for a different studio if you want a better experience and longer as well. Overall to expensice for not enough time and also instructors that don't really enjoy teaching. read more

This class is so fun for the girlies who want to try out a new hobby! It's $45 for a 1 hour class, where you get to make a pinch pot and try your hand at the pottery wheel (total of 2 pieces). On the wheel, you have the option of making a cup or a bowl. Keren was a super concise and helpful teacher, taking her time to guide us every step of the way. The hour absolutely flew by, and my friend and I are excited to get invited back to glaze our pieces (free of charge!). read more

The reservations here fill up quickly so i recommend booking if you find a date and time that works for you. They have 2 types of classes including a 1 hour sessions where you make 2 items and another where you make a planter. We arrived and had to wait as the prior appointment ran late. Our instructor was Jordan and she was really cool and nice. I loved her chill demeanor. We walked us through the experience and allowed us to be creative with our pieces. At the end you can choose to paint your own on another day or have it painted for you. Overall for the price of $45 for an hour and being able to make 2 pieces is such a great deal and perfect to do with your loved ones!!! Highly recommend this experience and establishment to everyone. read more

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The pottery class experience was fun and interesting. However, their communication is very poor (through email). I did not have time to come back for the color glazing experience but did request for specific color options for each piece. Without my knowledge, both pieces were colored the same color. read more