Fire Works Ceramics

I recently went to Fire Works Ceramics with a bunch of girlfriends. It’s a ceramics store here in Mountain View. You know—the kind where you pick out the item that you want to paint and then you paint it. They dip it in clear glaze and fire it and then you come back a week later and pick up your work-of-art. We had such a fun time. There were 10 of us and a few bottles of champagne being passed around. I didn’t have even one drop because I took my painting my gnome very seriously.

I love that this activity can work for all levels of creative skill. Those that want to add all kinds of tiny detail to an item are free to spend lots of time on it. And someone who doesn’t have much experience painting won’t have any trouble at all. Everything turns out looking like someone put lots of love into it and no two items will ever look the same. There are items on display that were painted by children. Even finger painting would work well on an item. Someone that has never painted anything will do just fine. And there are also items that have been meticulously done with tons of care and attention to detail. They look like a professional painted them and they will certainly be something that will be passed down in a family. I actually have a plate that my grandmother painted at a place like this in the 1950s.

Heather (below) painted a set of three Christmas tree candy dishes, one of the other girls painted a coffee mug, Tish painted a big platter for her Thanksgiving dinner, Arielle did a small bud vase, and Eileen painted an airplane shaped bank. We all congratulated each other how talented we are and said that we would do it again real soon. 

One thing that I wanted to mention about Fire Works Ceramics is that they don’t have a big sign out in front of their building like most businesses. That’s because they are located on a street that is in a residential zone of Mountain View. Signs aren’t allowed in residential areas. Our city has strict signing ordinances and that’s one of the reasons Mountain View is so beautiful. Fire Works Ceramics looks like a big victorian home, but it has lots of unpainted ceramic items in the front windows and you can see that all the tables are chairs are set up for customers. You’ll see the “Come on in” sign on the front door.

Be sure to make reservations or at least call ahead to be sure there’s room for your group. This place has become very popular and sometimes the entire place is taken over by a big party. We wouldn’t want you to be disappointed that there isn’t room for you… so call ahead just to be safe. I just love Mountain View and I’m really happy with my new gnome.