The best experience ever!!! Very nervous for my first time doing any pottery and the instructors…read moretook all the stress away ! Truly skilled and very friendly, will definitely come back!

Overview: loved this beginner class, great instructions and demo, beautiful finished product…read more ---- I saw their place on instagram and they had a special price for their anniversary, their 90-min wheel class was for $50 instead of their usual $80. I've thrown on a wheel in the past but this was a great opportunity to refresh those days! Parking was a little difficult, there is a paid parking lot, but luckily I was able to find street parking. Very clear demo and explanations, with a small class size (I think there was 8 of us). Our instructor Cristina does the demo first and then we try it and she is there to help us if needed. Once you finish your projects you can engrave designs into your pieces so I drew a little cat face on the bottom of the bowl. Unfortunately bc it was on the bottom of the bowl where the glaze pools, it was basically hidden by the glaze :( I wish I had known beforehand, then I would've chosen a better placement for the face. If you tilt it in the right lighting you can see the cat, but it's a beautiful bowl regardless! I like that they take care of everything else after you make the pieces, they trim, glaze, and fire it for you and you just have to be patient and wait for that email to come through that your piece is ready for pick up (4-6 weeks). From the class (3/7) to getting the bowl in my hands (4/10) took a month and a few days, due to the many pieces they have to fire. They have specific days and times for piece pick-up which they list on their email. ---- Overall: a great time for beginners or people with past experience, I'm happy with my piece and it reignited a dormant passion!

Loved my experience here! We made reservations ahead of time for the $30 / 1hr wheeltime. This is…read moreperfect for beginners. They walk you through everything. You get two blobs of clay that you can make two items with. Maggie was super friendly and patient with explaining the process and helping us fix anything we messed up on. The price includes firing and glazing one of the two. You can pay an additional $15 to fire the second one. For the glaze they had a bunch of different colors which was nice. Shop is pretty small. There's 6 stations total for people to work at. Also only street parking so plan ahead.

This was my first time doing anything ceramics-related and I had such a positive experience! I…read morestumbled upon Teralta via their sister organization, Ceramic Arts, because we were interested in taking some sort of pottery class. We found that Ceramic Arts had "Wheel Time" where we can get an hour on the wheel just practicing and making anything we want, but they booked up pretty far out and we wanted to do this sooner. So, they directed us to Teralta Art. I was skeptical to book with Teralta at first since I like to see reviews of places before paying for it, but I am so glad I gave them a chance (if you're reading this and thinking the same thing -- DO IT!). We booked the 1-hour "Wheel Time" session where we got to play on the wheel. It was a Friday afternoon and we had such a pleasant experience with Maggie. She helped us center the clay on the wheel a couple of times and gave us tips on what to do, what types of things to make, some techniques, etc. We also chatted about Teralta's mission and I was so inspired by their vision. If you haven't seen on their website yet, they are a non-profit creating and increasing access to art for kids in the City Heights community. She told us more about this and I think it is a great addition to the larger San Diego community. The one hour flew by quickly! The next steps are that they will fire and glaze our work for us, then we can pick it up in 3 weeks. We got to choose the colors for them. Our experience here was so fun and positive, and I would absolutely recommend this activity to anyone! Thank you Maggie and Teralta Art for bringing this to the community -- we need more people like you!

I enjoy the process of creating. Don't necessarily see myself as artistic though so I figured with…read morea mosaic, it would be easier to create something I enjoyed. It was the 2 afternoon glass on glass mosaic class I took. Lauren was the instructor. She's warm, approachable, works well with beginners. Got lots of good tips from her. I have never created something that I love as much as I love this piece. I'll be coming back for more classes and continuing to make more mosaics. I feel a bit like an artist now. It's awesome!!!!!

I finally got a chance to do the indigo dyeing workshop with Lauren and brought my two friends with…read moreme! We had the best time. What an incredible way to spend an afternoon or two learning a really fun approachable new form of art, working with your hands. Lauren was a great teacher, very supportive of our crazy ideas and was a great balance of structure vs. going with the flow and allowing the students interests guide the class. Opening each piece and revealing the pattern was almost better than Christmas morning! Cannot wait to return for more alumni days.

I took the 5-week Form and Function class with Misha, where I learned to throw, trim, and glaze for…read morethe first time. While I walked away with new skills and 4 pieces that I am proud of, I found Misha's style of instruction difficult to follow and unpleasant at times. Misha began the first class by telling us that she will intervene if she notices our projects going south. However, on multiple occasions she purposefully stayed quiet when a student was having trouble and then when it was too late to save the piece, she said, "I was waiting for you to ask a question." This resulted in students having to scrap their projects without time to retry. I understand that Misha aims to strike a balance between hands-on assistance and letting students figure things out on their own, but her lack of intervention felt like punishment for not following her instructions well enough. I also found it challenging that Misha structured her classes by verbally explaining all of the tasks of the day at the beginning of class. After this intro, she did not speak much for the rest of the class. During several classes, she began to work on personal projects and did not seem approachable for questions. I would have appreciated a few more demonstrations and for instructions to be repeated throughout the class. Because this was a class intended for beginners, I expected a bit more patience and active involvement from Misha. The 5-week course was structured well and allowed students to learn the entire process making ceramics, but the style of instruction made the course harder than it had to be.

I took the five week Form + Function course with Misha and it unfortunately wasn't the fun…read moreintroduction to pottery I was hoping for. I liked that the classes were structured around specific projects as it gave us direction in our learning, however I felt Misha did not always have the patience that is required when working with a class of beginners. I think she sometimes got overwhelmed working with the students (completely understandable as 5/7 students in the class had zero experience with pottery) but she allowed this to negatively affect her instruction and often became short when asked basic questions about projects/next steps. There was very little time allocated for experimentation and students were taught to only do things one particular way (Eg. Centering, opening up). While this was likely due to time constraints, alternatives do exist and when myself/other students would inquire about modifications when steps weren't clicking or something went wrong with our piece, Misha would tell us to "figure it out" or to trash our piece entirely. She also began every class ignoring students as we entered and only broke her silence once 3+ students had greeted her. I was able to create some pieces I am really proud of in the course, and I did learn a lot, but it didn't feel like an environment where I could truly enjoy myself and explore the craft. There is no doubt that Misha is talented, however I don't think she enjoys teaching, at least not beginners. I was hoping for a welcoming environment, and am discouraged to say Ho/Co often felt a bit hostile. Perhaps my timing was bad as I know Misha released a new collection on her Etsy shop during this time and maybe felt overwhelmed due to order volume? She often worked on pieces for sale during classes, so maybe she had too much on her plate and our class was simply a casualty of this. Regardless of the cause, I unfortunately would not recommend Misha's courses and will be trying out a new studio.

Josie is an insightful, patient and talented artist, mentor, teacher and coach. There is no one…read moreelse in San Diego I could recommend more for encaustic instruction and workshops! I thorough enjoyed my private classes with Josie the way she so warmly and generously shares her studio, space and materials. I am looking forward to my next opportunity to plug in to a workshop or just spend a relaxing afternoon in her backyard studio. Josie is simply a delight.

I have taken three private workshops with Ms. Rodriguez and I have loved them all. She is both a…read moretalented artist and kind and patient teacher. She welcomed me into her home which is a treasure trove of her gorgeous artwork and taught me a bit about encaustics before we entered her free standing studio amid the gardens behind the house. It's truly a serene and inspiring atmosphere in which to work and learn. Ms. Rodriguez is warm and generous with her students and she is an excellent teacher. Starting as a novice I have gained enough skill from her workshops to set up and work in my own studio at home. I wholeheartedly recommend these classes to anyone wishing to learn or advance in the encaustic medium.

I went on my own and had a wonderful time painting. Even though I don't have a pet and could have…read morepainted from any wildlife image I found online, I was able to paint my favorite stuffed animals. With LJs instruction it turned out amazing and my husband wants to put it up in the house. Thank you LJ for a wonderful no fuss evening!

Lovely experience Relaxing and creative…read more Can't recommend it enough This was my second paint your pet class Will definitely attend a 3rd time

Emma made some beautiful, fully custom made, surf fins for a shelf in my home. She put a great…read moreamount of detail into them, and made them exactly how I hoped they would turn out. She worked with me to hear what I wanted, designs, dimensions, etc., and was able to create something so special for me! I will definitely be coming to her for more custom projects!

Emma threw me a birthday party and it was so much fun. It honestly exceeded my expectations. She…read moretaught us how to make our own cups, and having something to walk away with after is such a fun way to remember this party. I keep recommending her to my friends!!

Becky and I had just finished enjoying some gelato at An's Electronic Repair. As we were leaving,…read morewe noticed this little shop next door. On display in the window was shelves full of an interesting variety of ceramics. We decided to check it out. We've walked by many times on our way to and from La Doña and never noticed Claytime Ceramics and Gifts. Upon walking in we were cheerfully greeted by Caroline the owner. She explained that her shop is a DIY ceramics shop. You choose a piece and paint it. She even offers classes for making pottery on a pottery wheel. One wall was lined with wheels. There are tables set up for people to create their pieces. When we were there a small family (mom, dad, two small kids) was at a table painting away. Caroline is super nice. She was so friendly and excited to share. Her passion for her art and sharing her knowledge were palpable. This really looked like a great couples, family or group activity. The next time you're strolling along Bacon Street in OB, stop in and say hi to Caroline at Claytime Ceramics!

The woman that owns this business is so rude and disrespectful! I love to patronize women and…read moreminority owned businesses and small businesses in general, but she is just not a nice person! We happened is, we set in a chair outside of her business and she began yelling at us that we can't sit in front of her sign and window. Mind you, the chair was already there, we did not move it we were having ice cream from the place next door! She called the cops on us for sitting on the sidewalk in a chair in front of the ice cream shop. But it was just a little in front of her window. She even cursed at me! I refrained from cursing, but did not move right away because she was so disrespectful! Think before you patronize this business. I don't want to patronize these business of a person who treats people like that!