Celebrating TWENTY FOUR years in Poulsbo!
Create your own unique home decor and one-of-a-kind gifts.
relax and spend some right-brain time with your friends.
WRITE THE BEST STORY THERE IS: YOUR OWN.
Each year thousands of people visit Dancing Brush and discover the gratification that comes from designing useful, lasting household objects with their own personal, creative flair. The most valuable gains in life come through experiences. That’s what makes Dancing Brush so profound. As you paint, you can: Spend time with a friend. Bond with your family. Celebrate a special event. Host an office party. Or turn off the outside world and spoil yourself with some solo creative time. With our huge selection of bisque pottery and limitless approaches you can take with any piece, each visit to Dancing Brush will feel new — because you are in a different place in your life.
People are designed to be creative. Artistic activity is life-giving, brain-building, and just plain good for the soul. Kids have no trouble with art, but many adults lose touch with their creative side somewhere along the way. Dancing Brush exists to throw out an art lifeline; to be the opposite of big-box consumerism, to bring balance in an out-of-balance world. Dancing Brush provides an easy way for people of all ages and types — artistic or not — to create meaningful, useful, personal, functional artwork; and discover the fun that comes from making their own stuff. True, artists are special kinds of people — but we believe every person is also a special kind of artist.
Few people have the spare time or money to outfit themselves with an art studio, yet the need to create functional art still exists. We supply everything you need to create a cool piece of useful art within a short time – and we'll even clean up your workspace afterwards.
Enjoy chatting with your friends while creating a mug, bowl, plate, set of plates, set of tiles — or even a set of dog dishes! When you and your friends come to Dancing Brush, you'll leave with great memories and a hopeful expectancy of what your finished pottery will look like after kiln firing.
1. Begin by choosing a table to work at. Our studio is spacious with several tables, high ceilings, innovative design, pleasant lighting and music — perfect for having your own space in a comfortable, inspiring environment.
2. Wash your hands in our kitchen-style sink and select a pottery piece that interests you.
3. Browse our collection of inspirational photos, special tools, stamps, templates, screen prints, and glaze colors. If you have a special logo or design you'd like to create, you can bring it with you and trace it onto your pottery with our carbon paper prior to painting it.
4. Formulate a plan of what you'd like to create on your selected pottery. Our staff art teachers are happy to explain various tips and tricks that will help your work come out looking great – even if you have little or no experience.
5. After you've finished painting, you'll pay at the cash register and leave your piece with Dancing Brush to be fired in our kilns.
6. Before firing, we apply a clear overglaze that will make your finished product glossy and vivid.
7. The overglaze and firing process takes between three and seven days, so plan on picking up your finished piece a week after you create it.
8. Voilà! Your original piece is finished and ready to be brought home.
A Dancing Brush birthday party is a turn-key solution when you're looking for a special way to bring memory and meaning to a party. For kids' birthday parties, you can set the price-per-child by coming to the studio and selecting a range of pieces we can set aside for your kids to choose from. If you plan on $20 to $25 total per child, you'll find enough pottery variety for your kids to feel great.
For grown-up parties (and kids' parties too, for that matter), we are happy to help you set up an extra table for food and drinks. Really, we are eager to do whatever we can to help you make your event awesome.
· A Dancing Brush staff member who will instruct the party guests as to how to use the studio's tools and materials.
· An assistant who will be available to help you carry out the party in a way that fits your group.
· A birthday party usually lasts a couple hours: an hour for painting and an hour for eating and gift opening (it's okay to bring in whatever food you'd like).
· For adult parties, you are welcome to bring your own alcoholic beverages. Simply fill out an online "banquet permit" (click here) and bring it with you when you come to Dancing Brush. This way, it's all legal and legit.
What do people make at Dancing Brush?
Create useful ceramic home decor and one-of-a-kind gifts. We have hundreds of different styles of bisque ware, including mugs, bowls, plates, flower pots, square tiles — even dog dishes! Select a piece which interests you, then glaze it to your liking. After you finish, we apply a clear overglaze, and fire it in our kiln. It is ready to pick up a week later.
Ya, but I'm not artistic. Is Dancing Brush for me?
Dancing Brush is entirely designed for non-artists as well as artists. We believe ALL people benefit from exercising their artistic muscles. So be brave. Dive in and see what happens. Write a new page in the story of your life.
How do I make my piece come out looking cool?
Dancing Brush has all sort of cool tools, tips and tricks we can show you to help your piece come out looking good. Also, what you'll soon find is that this whole activity isn't really about pottery or how artistically awesome you are (or aren't). It's about friendships and legacy -- two very impartant aspects of life which transcend any worries about artistic coolness. When you spend an hour painting with a friend or loved one, discussion flows and memories are made.
Is my finished pottery food-safe?
Yes. The glazes we use are non-toxic. Your finished pottery is food-safe and oven-safe. We recommend washing your ceramics by hand rather than in the dishwasher, as we’ve found the dishwasher can cause small cracks and chips to develop over time.
Tips are very welcome, and greatly appreciated. Tips go to the employees, not the business. If you think we've done a great job of making your experience excellent, a tip is a kind way to acknowedge it. And if you feel your experience wasn't as good as you expected, talk about it with the Dancing Brush staff member so we can learn to improve.
A typical Dancing Brush experience costs roughly $25, plus or minus. Your "Studio Session" includes use of our space and materials, and costs $10 per person. From there, pottery pieces are priced separately. For example, we have small objects in the $8 to $10 range, with many useful, fun pieces in the $15 to $25 range. We find that having a Studio Session cost separate from pottery allows us to price pottery pieces lower, so you can paint multiple pieces without costs stacking up as much (compared to studios who put all the cost into the single piece price). Our pricing includes clear overglazing and kiln firing. Payment is made on the day you paint.
It’s very common for people to finish their painting in an hour or two. When you finish, you leave your work with us for clear overglazing and firing, and it’s ready for you to pick up one week later.
Can my group bring alcohol in the evenings?
Yes. Simply go online and fill out a banquet permit form (click here for the form). It's easy, and only takes a few minutes. Print out your completed banquet permit and bring it with you to Dancing Brush. This way, it's all legal and legit.
© Dancing Brush Ceramic Painting Studio. Design: Veatch Design.