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San Diego Ceramic Connection

3.7 (19 reviews)
Ultra High-EndArt Galleries, Art Schools
Closed Closed

By appointment only

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front of SDCC owner: clean up this eye sore in our neighborhood
Jaz A S.

Unfortunately I had the exact same negative impression of the owner dude- Kota, Kouttey - [ whatever his name is ] My friend and I have been an artistic team, very successful in public art installations, as well as, the design and installation of large commercial projects. Our work is all over the SD Zoo- Museums, etc. ..so having just beat four dozen teams nationally for a half million dollar project downtown [installed @ Crosby St. near Harbor Drive]- we got busy creating life-size human figures to be poured in bronze, we were creating an abstract stainless steel arc of fifteen Albacore tuna.....so we just wanted to find someone who could efficiently fire 2 little custom tiles with our names. The tiles would be set within an 850 sq. ft. mosaic area for the park - which sits there now. So we call ahead -he wasn't that communicative ...and told him the basics and then drove to SDCC. Basically, he was rude and unreceptive. Like, a person who eats a poor diet and so the result is poor brain function or social retardation. We didn't want to purchase a kiln- I could've fired these in my sleep...but sorry to say that this guy is a prick like the former reviewer expressed. Another thing: his building looks like a pile of S#=T! on cute little Thorn Street. DO SOMETHING dude!#&$*&#!!!! $! What a freaking eye sore for the businesses across and next to this dump. Oh. btw we had our names cast in bronze with our business logo. Capiche'?!

Photo from the Student Art Show at SDCC! Sold my first few ceramic pieces here :)

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2 years ago

Kouta Shimazaki is an amazing potter and an awesome instructor. San Diego Ceramic Connection is therapy

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12 years ago

I went in to sign up for a class the guy was weird and not helpful. I would not recommend this place. The end.

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15 years ago

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Review Highlights - San Diego Ceramic Connection

You can bring in wine or beer (or sho-choo for Kouta) and enjoy it while playing with clay.

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Andrea Rushing Academy of Fine Art

Andrea Rushing Academy of Fine Art

4.9(10 reviews)
1.7 miNormal Heights

Wonderful artist and teacher! Great studio and great person!!! If you want to learn to learn to…read morepaint Andrea is the best!!

I just finished my third class with Andrea and i have 3 more to go. I have been painting all of my…read morelife and I have never received as profound lessons as Andrea has been giving me. I have always had vision and ability however, Andrea as a teacher brings out what I already know and harps on basic principles I need to have with every approach that i have been missing. From rules of thumb to color concepts and using principles when I get stuck. Class is amazing, I couldn't ask for a better atmosphere to be in and I almost can get emotional about how freeing it is to be surrounded by all levels of painters. There is always music playing, discussions with students individually with Andrea and individual lessons can turn into all of us around Andrea discussing a technique with a student. Being in Normal Heights is a great central location and the openness of the class means bystanders can walk in and be amazed at all the work we are doing. It makes you feel privileged to be there working alongside him. One of my favorite things about the class is Andrea is usually sketching during the day, painting, or reworking something of his before we get there and if we are all independently working he will revisit it. It's great to see an instructor applying his love while enhancing our own abilities. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my money and time towards this passion.

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Andrea Rushing Academy of Fine Art - Oil Painting by Andrea Rushing

Oil Painting by Andrea Rushing

Andrea Rushing Academy of Fine Art
Andrea Rushing Academy of Fine Art

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Watts Atelier Of The Arts - American Artist Hightlights Cover/Article

Watts Atelier Of The Arts

4.3(29 reviews)
23.1 mi

UPDATE because I was thinking about this place, as I got an email from them. I get them often and…read morealways look forward to it. About 6 months before we moved from Oceanside to Temecula area, I planned on attending Watts Atelier. I did a lot of research and found them because I wanted to study anatomy, for my sculptures. Sadly, the class didn't fill up enough, for them to justify that specific class. I went to the facility priorly though. I was soo blown away by the atmosphere. Wonderful! I longed to go there and just sit, if I needed to. Sometimes you just know. Your spirit shines. I watched a demo of a portrait drawing and felt incredibly inspired by it. If I lived closer, I'd find a way to go there. I recommend them whole heartedly.

Mastery of any kind is not an easy road. Getting anywhere near the vicinity of mastery is pretty…read moregrueling. And when you start it will be frustrating and somewhat demoralizing. But nothing worth having is easy, right? Known around the world for its reputation, Watts is one of the few ateliers in the country reviving the tradition of 19th century studio study in Europe. I learned there is no 'right way to draw' in my undergrad program and I have nice, shiny diploma to prove it. But the collective energy of hundreds of years of artists like Fechin or Bouguereau have developed a way to see the human figure in greater depth and knowledge than any technique I've come across. I'm seeing my diploma has the right spirit, just not the proper guidance, so I've decided to move to Southern California to even get near this ancient knowledge I need to become a better draftsman. I discovered Watts through a rabbit hole of instructional drawing videos and landing on a video of the owner, Jeff discussing how to be a successful artist, which had all the right affirmations I was looking for. Based on what I saw, I decided to test drive their two week boot camp in August to see if I could cut it at a place like this. I was woefully unprepared and could barely hold the conte properly, let alone put anything on paper that didn't look like seismograph output. I was overwhelmed by all of the information that I was lacking - angles, proportions, plumb lines, perspective, curves vs. straights and on and on. I nearly gave up, but Jeff and Krista encouraged me to stick it out, and with the help of the instructors and other students, I had a small breakthrough. It just took a push for me to realize I knew more than I thought and was capable of understanding their technique. With that, I decided to move to the San Diego area to study as long as I can at Watts with a full-load of classes in the winter term. I am currently in week seven and will be here for the foreseeable future, nothing I've ever done has come close to teaching me this much. They are proponents of the Frank Reilly method of representational drawing and you work mostly in charcoal on newsprint for speed and efficiency. Mixing demos with one on one instruction, the skill you get to see inform your own work is mind-bending. There's no coddling here, so if you're a mildly skilled artist you will be humbled, but if you're looking for someone to stroke your ego (ahem, Chai T.) you may want to go to a wine & paint. Their program is not the hardest thing I've done, but it is up there, and I have this innate desire to keep it going. I came here to hone old skills I forgot I had after nearly 15 years focusing on visual and UI design. While I am far from being proficient, the process is invigorating. You're not learning to draw, you're learning how to build a human being on paper. And the more I learn, the more I want to know - forcing the strange, underhand grip of the charcoal to put marks on paper that come close (hopefully) to what's in my head. I have a whole range of classes from 20 minute head lay-ins, figure two, three and five minute quick sketch, fundamentals, facial expressions and even painterly drawing and I'm still reeling (in the best way possible). Jeff conjures up a certain type of energy that starts with him and permeates through the instructors down to the other students. Everyone is here to learn from the best and so willing to help one another out as no one is at the same level. I am absorbing more in two months than my whole undergrad program ever got close to, and my goal is to become proficient by the time I'm 40 and take my career in a whole different direction. If you're not serious, it may nudge you out fairly quickly, but if you have this desire to create art that you can't explain away, you will most likely find what you're looking for here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX0MrnzBJ8M

Photos
Watts Atelier Of The Arts - Graphite ©Lucas Graciano

Graphite ©Lucas Graciano

Watts Atelier Of The Arts - Drawing Magazine Article

Drawing Magazine Article

Watts Atelier Of The Arts - Oil ©Erik M. Gist

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Oil ©Erik M. Gist

San Diego Ceramic Connection - galleries - Updated May 2026

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