Emerald City Fired Arts Studio & Gallery

What a fantastic place!
I went here with my daughter yesterday for some mother-​daughter time. The woman on staff was very friendly and helpful. The supplies were all clean and well organized. The space was large and open with excellent music playing. We had so much fun. I’m so thrilled that this is studio is open in my neighborhood!
We will be back.

Owner operated, locally owned. Very sweet and helpful people. Items are reasonably priced starting at $ 8. Fun experience for my young kids and I.

I went a few times and its absolutely wonderful. The owner is so nice and its just a great idea. I think it’s creative and beautiful! I definitely recommend going for birthday party’s! Very original.

I came here with my meetup group and we all had a wonderful time! I was able to make a reservation and finalize all the details via email with the (owner?) manager, Maidrine. She was absolutely lovely! So helpful.
My group is for crafty gals who like adult beverages. Applying/​paying/​receiving the minimal charge banquet fee so we could BYOB was also part of what made the experience so great. We brought some drinks and some snacks, had a pizza delivered and set up at the long table in the back where we got our craft on.
Maidrine was so helpful and patient with us. There are so many different techniques — beyond the basic paint brush. There are step by step instructions on each table, examples displayed on the wall and she has tools on hand (ie; stamps, silk screens, yarn, tape, etc.) Honestly I should have arrived 30 mins early just to pick out my piece and figure out what I wanted to do with it.
Excellent experience. Will be back. Great for groups! Birthday, kid, baby shower, bachelorette, etc. parties! Ladies nights. Date nights. Rainy days.
Parking was easy too. Right on the corner on the first floor of new apartment buildings.

I drove passed the studio a few weeks ago and notices it for the first time (I live very close to the studio and probably have driven passed it TONS of times) and decided to go in today. There were so many options to choose from of what I wanted to glaze and how much money I wanted to spend. You are absolutely limitless to what you want to do to your project, and the best part is you don’t pay a dime more. The customer service was awesome, Madreen really took the time to make sure we were settled in and knew how to get started! There’s something there for everyone. I’m 17 and had a great time. There were adults, and kids alike equally enjoying their time at the studio and I will definitely be going back! All of the people that came in when I was there were trying to help Madreen really get her business up and going. That to me, was a great indicator that this woman is genuine and her business is too!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

This place is a gem for the south of Seattle. I have no idea how it could get poor reviews. My two girls and I had very good service and overall the experience was just like it should have been: simple family fun.
I like this place better than U District since there is more space and more windows.
Anyway I highly recommend it. As do my girls.

My family and I had a fantastic time here! The selection of ceramics was great, the space was clean and well organized, and best of all the shop owner was super welcoming, helpful, friendly, and fun to visit with. I will definitely be back and I highly recommend this studio!

Like PTT in U-​village, but more upscale, spacious, relaxed atmosphere.
Parking: Street — I’ve gone on weekday and weekend, parking pretty easy to find both times around the shop
Atmosphere: Open high ceilings, 1 long table, smaller tables for 2 – 4 people in the front. Clean, classy, newish feeling. Nothing blaring on the walls — just pieces of painted pottery for inspiration. Soft instrumental music playing. There were never tons of people there so we could actually have conversations or just paint quietly. (PTT feels more crowded, rushed and visually busy.)
Service: I’m not sure where all the hate is coming from — Madreen (sp?) who owns the place is extremely nice and friendly. Took the time to help our family figure out how to do the special techniques. Also took the time to chat a little with us. Yes, there were times when she was helping another customer, but you don’t go to these types of places to rush through and finish a project. Just sit back and relax! You’re there to step away from a fast-​paced life!
Another tip about the service — some parents just drop their kids off here and she’ll watch your kids while you shop or go out for date night!
Pottery: Well, they’ve got a pretty good selection of mugs, plates, figurines, vases, etc. You can also do glass fusion/​mosaics, but those are a bit more pricy — about $ 50 for a 12×12 square, but they do look really nice — something you could actually display in your house.
Cost: Prices about $ 15-​$ 50. Comparable to PTT.
Recommendation: Great place to take a break from life!

Our entire family had such a fantastic time here. They offer items as inexpensive as $ 14 all the way up to the $ 50 range for painted pottery. I was entranced with the fused glass which took hours and hours, but my teenage son and I both made glass plates and it was mesmerizing. Our 9 year old loves all the activities and wants to go to camp.
The owner really knows her stuff and enjoys chatting and explaining all the techniques — don’t be afraid to ask flat out how to do your activity! She’ll tell you how to be successful. We will be going back regularly,.

The bottom line is awful experience. Will never come back again! This is what happened. I bought three Living Social coupons for me and my two sons to use ON my birthday! So the plan was to paint together! I made sure that I was able to use the coupon, which said in fine print. Limit 1 per person. When I got there, I showed her the coupons before we even started because I didn’t want there to be any issues. When she saw them, she told me that I could only use one per household. I said, that’s not what it says in the fine print. She went on to argue this… Do you know how little money I would make when people come in to use these coupons? I make a few dollars at the most. I tried to defend my end as a new customer and then she put the blame on Living Social and said that I told them to put «one per household» on it, but they made a mistake and didn’t put it on the coupon. She then said I could use two of the coupons, when I’m sure I could have used all of them because we were each using one. If that is the narrow business mind of owner, Madreen, then she really doesn’t know how to do business because those coupons are to invite people in to your store and if you have a good experience and good time, you will be a repeat customer over and over again, which is really how you make your money! With this mindset, I was turned off right at the start. Then when she came to check on us, she had the nerve to ask me why I wasn’t painting. Really? I told her… the reason why I’m not painting is that you didn’t let me use the coupon! I couldn’t believe she said that to me… and no less on my BIRTHDAY too. It was an awkward experience all the way around! And when I called Living social I asked them why certain restrictions weren’t on the coupon, they said clearly that we have the customer/​client approve all the restrictions before we print. I would stay far, far away from this place. Like one of the other reviewers said, there are other ceramic places that are better priced and offer better customer service than this place here. The location isn’t the safest place either with the rash of shootings in the area.

I was looking for a paint-​it-​yourself pottery place to take my daughter to make a Father’s Day gift, and Emerald City Fired Arts had a Unilocal coupon for $ 10 for $ 20. So I scooped it up and tried this place out.
I was extremely pleased with our experience! They had a ton of different pre-​made ceramic pieces to choose from. Cups, plates, bowls, vases, and even little figurines for the kids to paint. Each piece was very conveniently marked with prices. I believe the price range started around $ 20, and went up from there. I chose a coffee cup and saucer set. They had a great selection of glazes, with painted tile samples for each so that you could see how your colors would turn out once they were fired. They also has tons of different painting techniques displayed on the wall, along with step by step instructions for them on each table.
I wanted our daughter’s hand prints on the cup and saucer, and the sweet woman working that day was more than happy to help me, seeing as our little one is only 6 months old. She was extremely friendly and helpful! I went in on a Friday morning and it was nice and quite, with a few other families stopping by. Once I was finished, they told me that my pieces would be ready to pick up by the following Friday. I stopped by the next week to pick it up with no problems. I plan to visit this shop again once the little one is old enough to make amazing works of art all her own!

Took my daughters here and we had a fabulous time. Lots of choices for bisque wear, glazes and ideas. The owner was wonderful.
This is definitely a new favorite destination.
And it’s independently owned!!!

I took my young daughter in for a quiet activity; her first time painting ceramic. I hadn’t done it myself in about 10 years. There was a decent selection of items to choose from at a reasonable price. There were quite a number of tools — stencils, stamps, lace, etc. to use and a good amount of colors to choose from.
I was a little overwhelmed at trying to figure out the techniques in their sample products. There are instructions at each table but without someone to demonstrate and walk us through it, I didn’t want to get in over my head while also trying to manage my preschooler’s project.
The employee (owner?) was friendly. She wasn’t around much — she was processing a large number of completed items for pick up. We ended up staying about two hours and left only because my daughter was getting hungry. Our pieces were ready for pick up a week later. They turned out well. My daughter really enjoyed painting there, so I suspect we’ll be back in the future.

«Meh» is right… My mom, daughter, and I went here a few weeks ago and we were really unimpressed. The website boasts that you’ll get «professional instruction and lots of helpful ideas to get the creative juices flowing» but we got very little help with one of the examples we chose that turned out to be much more difficult than we were initially led to believe. As we worked on it together, we actually figured out what was probably the correct way to do it — and that’s not what we were told at the onset. The piece didn’t turn out anything like the example.
I don’t think we’ll ever go here again, and we might have put up a stink about paying for our misguided adventure if we hadn’t been using a coupon. We definitely won’t be going back.

This place is a lot of fun! They have a variety of affordable bisqueware to choose from, plenty of paints, and lots of great ideas and samples! The employees are friendly and helpful. I only wish it weren’t so far from my house!

We’ve been in twice for painting and didn’t have a great experience either time. Both times the owner left for a bit. When she was there, she was on her phone or ignoring us (the only people in the place). We weren’t able to finish our pieces in our first visit and she was very put out that I asked about leaving them to come back 2 days later saying that her shelves were full even though I could clearly see she had plenty of room for our small pieces. I’ve needed to do this at other similar studios on many occasions so I didn’t think it would be so offensive that I ask.
On the return to finish our pieces, she did stop the kiln that she had just started in order to put our pieces in which was very nice of her and what changed my rating from 2 star to 3 star. I don’t regret going, but we won’t be returning. There are just simply other places that do the same thing where we’ve had a much better experience. Mud House Pottery is one of them.
Cost in inline with other similar places I’ve been but having a groupon/​living social/​amazon local coupon definitely helps.

Great do it your self pottery place. I could spend hours here, they were helpful and friendly. I’d give them 5 stars but we got the boot at 6pm when on their Unilocal listing it says they close at 7pm.

My daughter and I went to Emerald City Fired Arts yesterday to paint pottery and we were both very impressed. It was clean and the employee (owner??) was very helpful. Lots to choose from and good prices. Something fun to do on a cloudy summer day.

Absolutely charming place to spend a few hours. I brought my five year old daughter for a weekend workshop: making and painting clay owls. She had a blast. Instruction was kind and helpful, absolutely encouraging of kids’ creativity.

Love this place! Big selection of bisque for ceramic painting AND they have fused glass and mosaics as well. They are offering summer camps for kids too which is a really good idea. South Seattle has needed a place like this for a long time!!! Thanks to Sarah for being so helpful.