
DATE: Tuesday, September 30, 1997           TAG: 9709270080

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Things to Do 

SOURCE: BY KRYS STEFANSKY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   86 lines

AN OUTING TO THE CERAMICS SHOP PAINT-YOUR- OWN PLACES OFFER CREATIVITY, GIFT IDEAS, FUN

EMMA WAS INTRIGUED. ``We're gonna paint on dishes?'' she asked, eyeing me like I was too good to be true. ``Mom, that's impossible . . . isn't it?''

Oh, the surprises life has in store.

We walked into the Painted Earth. Emma took in the short chairs, the bisque ceramics on shelves along the walls, the paint brushes, color samples. Suddenly, it all made sense.

``This,'' she said, twirling through the shop, ``is gonna be fun.''

Not only that, I was about to make two grandmothers very, very happy and get some Christmas shopping done early.

Racing across California like a kiln fire gone out of control, decorating your own dinnerware is suddenly all the rage here, too. Word of the Painted Earth has passed from one artsy person to the next in Virginia Beach. Another paint-your-own ceramics shop owner, on Norfolk's 21st Street, reports that her business, Glazers' Gallery, has taken off, too, since she opened its doors in late July.

Children get a kick out of making something to give other people. At places like these, you can put their artistic efforts on something more permanent than a piece of paper. Choose from dinnerware, functional ceramic items for the bath and kitchen, candlesticks, piggy banks, animal figurines and knick-knacks.

For Grammy, my husband's mom, Emma chose a fish-shaped spoon rest with a relief design. For Omi, my mother, she picked a trivet with a scalloped edge. Emma's buddy, Drew, chose another trivet for his grandmother. Its perfectly flat surface seemed to make it a good choice for a first effort.

Painted Earth's owner, Scott Fuller, ushered us around the studio to choose paint colors and pick the right brush. He also assured us they had plenty of children in the shop all the time and that nobody could do any real harm to the place.

Then the kids settled down at a paper-covered table just their size. First came the washing. Each bisque item has to be carefully wiped with a wet sponge to remove any particles from the surface.

Then, they created. Drew, the impressionist, dabbed a little orange paint here, some yellow there and a goodly amount of black all over the place. Emma, the realist, went at her fish first, painting on the features and a set of pink lips. She turned the trivet into a flower with a smiling worm on one petal.

The grandmas - all three - will be thrilled speechless.

When we were done, inside an hour, the children signed their works on the back, and we left the items to be glazed and fired. Pickup was in three days.

Both area shops have plenty to choose from that will satisfy nearly every budget. Bisque items begin at $1.25 for a cabinet knob all the way up to $55 for a two-piece pitcher and bowl combination at Painted Earth. Per-hour rates vary depending on age - child, adult, senior - but include paints, supplies, glazing and firing.

And don't worry about the artistic bent of your offspring. Once that clear glaze covers it, it all looks wonderful. Especially at Grandma's house. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by L. Todd Spencer

Katie Kaynes...

Sheppard Smith..

Graphic

IF YOU GO

What: Painted Earth

Where: 2865-B6 Lynnhaven Drive off Great Neck Road near Shore

Drive in Virginia Beach

When: Tuesday through Saturday 11 am to 9 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to

6 p.m., closed Mondays

Call: 496-6460

Cost: children and seniors $4 an hour and $2 each additional

hour; adult fee is $6 an hour, $3 each additional hour.