Louisville Stoneware

A big part of this blog is sharing our "Kentucky" experiences with you, so one of the adventures I wanted to talk about today was our visit to Louisville Stoneware. James and I decided to visit Louisville Stoneware after I bought a groupon for a paint-you-own pottery session. Awesome! When I say "James and I decided", what I really mean is "I decided and James had no other choice".

I hung on to our groupon for quite a while (I almost always forget I even have them) and we finally decided to use it on another one of those god-awful hot days over the summer, since we couldn't be outside (always our first choice). We headed down to the pottery factory/shop and got started.

The first thing we did was browse around the shop section, looking for ideas and inspiration. I love everything about the Louisville Stoneware shop - especially the U of L and Derby themed items (hint, hint). After our browse we entered the factory portion. Low and behold, they didn't have a/c. Damn. So much for taking advantage of free air. We sweated our way through the blistering seething heat to the area where unpainted pottery waits for you to pick it up and give it some life.

I instantly knew what I wanted to paint. There was a medium sized bowl with horses sculpted into the side, running around the rim. James, on the other hand, is a little more deliberate when he makes decisions. After about half an hour of picking up different pots, plates and cups he decided he would paint a mug. He could put pens in it on his desk, maybe, since neither of us drink coffee anymore.

After our deliberation we sat at a big table and the staff member helped show us the technique. There are all different stamps and stencils you can use, if you are lame and uninspired, of course. We chose to free hand. Be bold! Woo! The fun thing about this is that the paint colors are all different when you are painting them on than when they are finished. The black is brown, the red is pink, etc. The colors change in the firing process, which makes for a bigger surprise when you go and pick your finished products up.

See all that effort?

A master at work.

So horseys went on the outside of my bowl, with a bold black rim and a big black fleur de lis on the inside. James painted his mug with a cardinal bird on one side and a Louisville "L" on the other, you know, to show off his school pride (He's got spirit, yes he do... He's got spirit, how 'bout you?!).

See the horseys running around the bowl, under the rim?

"L" yea! That's one awesome mug, yo.

One mean-lookin' bird.

Now, remember, this whole time we are painting it is close to 100 degrees both inside and outside. We were sweating from both the heat and the concentration. We ended up not being able to finish our products that day but they saved them for us and we went back the next weekend to wrap them up.

After we put the finishing touches on our awesome new pottery we turned them in to be fired and glazed, right there in the store. We had to come back a few days later to pick them up, and voila! We had our bitchin, hand-crafted new pottery to show off. They turned our just as we imagined, and maybe even better. Look for my horsey bowl around Derby time on the brunch table.

Overall, it was a great experience. We were able to learn a lot about the history of Louisville Stoneware, since they have a mini- museum right there, and we learned that almost everything is from the Louisville area (even the clay they make everything from).  James was even offered a job as a professional pottery painter (no joke). So, our suggestion is to definitely find time to visit, but probably on a day that isn't a million degrees.