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Frequently Asked Questions
Painting:
Mosaics:
Laurel Street Arts is operated by sisters Lee Beer and Cheryl Kadis. We are striving to make Laurel Street Arts a comfortable and fun place for people of all ages to explore their creativity. Laurel Street Arts is both a contemporary and traditional crafts studio. We currently offer painting your own pottery, mosaics, and glass fusing. We have classes in mosaics, glass fusing, polymer clay, ceramic painting, and more. Check our calendar and class pages for more information. How does painting your own pottery work? Enter our studio and choose an item from our large selection of bisque (pre-made, cleaned, once fired ceramic pieces). Select a table and answer a few questions from our staff. Design your piece. If you like, you may consult our library of design books and array of stencils, stamps, stickers, and other pattern aids. Our friendly staff is generally available for coaching or consulting whenever you paint. Choose paints and tools. (All of our paints and materials are nontoxic, and dishwasher and oven safe.) With a barely damp sponge, wipe your piece to remove dust. Relax and have fun executing your design. When you finish painting, place your piece on our drying rack and check out with staff at the customer counter. After your piece is thoroughly dry, Laurel Street Arts will glaze and fire it. Return to pick up your piece after 7 days, unless other arrangements are made. View the process in pictures. Laurel Street Arts is open from 10 am to 7 pm Monday hrough Thursday, 10 am to 9 pm Friday and Saturday and from noon to 5 pm on Sunday. You can arrange for an after hours party for your group of ten or more by contacting us. Can I special order bisque pieces? Yes. Special order catalogs for several vendors are available. Laurel Street Arts is also happy to attempt to locate specific pieces from other vendors. If the piece is unusual or costly, we will require payment before we place the order for your piece. View our Special Orders page. Will you paint a piece for me? Yes. We have several excellent painters available for commissioned work. Lead time is required, however, for the artist to execute your order. Prices depend upon the size and complexity of the design that you required. We sometimes have completed pieces available for sale, especially around holidays. View our Special Orders page. Reservations are generally not needed for a group of five or fewer. We cannot, however, guarantee painting space without a reservation. Reservations are required for all parties. Contact us to plan your party. Why does it take so long for my piece to be finished? We know your pieces are important to you and Laurel Street Arts makes every effort to finish your ceramic work so that it will last. Each step in the finishing process is important and takes time. The paint on the piece must dry thoroughly. Half of the piece is then dipped in clear glaze and allowed to dry thoroughly. The other half of the piece is then dipped and allowed to dry thoroughly. Atmospheric conditions can lengthen the amount of drying time required. In an attempt to conserve energy and keep our studio fees low, we try to fire our kilns only when we have a full load and, when possible, in the evening. After firing, the kiln must cool to a relatively low temperature before we can open it. This can take 24 hours or more. Premature opening of the kiln can impair the quality of your ceramic work. After the kiln is opened, we must smooth any rough surfaces to prevent injury. Simply put, a quality product takes time. In our experience, 7 days generally is sufficient to cover variables in preparation time for firing and in the number of items waiting to be fired during a given week. View the process. Is it safe to eat off my piece? All of our pieces painted with our standard paints are safe for eating. We offer some additional painting techniques that can be used for display pieces only. Yes. Not too long ago, the answer was no, because bright red paint required cadmium as one of the ingredients. But the paint chemists have performed miracles and we now have two shades of bright red. All of our paints are non-toxic. What if I make a mistake when I'm painting? Often you can correct your mistake simply by letting the paint dry and using an eraser. With lighter colors, you can simply paint over your mistake. Sometimes you may need to scrape off the paint with a toothpick or a sanding stone. Our paints are water soluble and generally will wipe right off a piece using a sponge and a little water. Some darker colors may need to be painted over. Do I have to know how to paint? Absolutely not! We have patterns, stencils, sponges and stamps that can make anyone look like a pro. And our friendly staff is always glad to help out. I have a lot of old china. Can I break it into pieces and make a table out of it? China is not very flat and it is difficult to make a tabletop with it although experienced mosaic artists can do it. Old china makes great mosaic pieces for a picture frame or flower pot.
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