Fired Up Studios

Judy the instructor was not helpful. Very poor attitude, was not help and made people feel bad for not doing it correctly even though it was people’s first time. Waste of time and money.

Great place to shop for local pottery nick knacks, and some useful items and gifts. Classes there however may be a little more challenging to learn than one may expect. Classes proved to have pseudo instructors spend class time working on their own work regularly while half the students students struggled. I expected more one on one instruction without having to feel like I was interrupting them by asking for help on various steps, but both classes teachers worked on personal items, so one felt annoyed for having to seemingly interrupt them from their own work for much needed help and questions. I find the 180. price too high for not enough assistance. Very minimal time was spent teaching any other techniques other than using a wheel, so felt rushed at the end. End products didn’t turn out as good as I had hoped as I wasn’t told much on my design options, or how do do anything but practice trying to be perfect. Maybe they should offer classes that focus more on glazing and decorating aspects as that is a large part of an end product to a beginner, and less time trying to perfect the wheel.

We did a two hour clay date on a Groupon a couple Fridays ago. We shared the classroom with two other couples and our instructor Ralph. They say on the website to BYOB for during the class, but no one really does that.
Ralph was great! He was friendly, calm and encouraging. He handled our classmates well — basically half the class was actually interested in exploring throwing on the wheel and half the class was aggressively disinterested (intentionally putting zero effort in) or super defensive about not being good at it (which is silly because it takes a billion hours to really get a good feel for the wheel).
You will spend the first hour watching the instructor go through the process of throwing a bowl or a cup shape. It was hard to stay awake given how hot it was in the room. Then you will get to try to throw your own pieces (you get 3 chances, of which you get to keep your one favorite). The instructor will come around and give pointers. You can choose from 5 glaze colors: white, blue, yellow, green, red — they will glaze it for you since you have to let the piece dry out a bit first.
Then, 2 — 3 weeks later they’ll give you a call to pick it up.
This was a good experience, and I’m glad to have done it — I just wish that the other participants were a bit more interested in the activity, but I guess that’s what I get for a one time activity.

Fired Up Studio got my attention because of a Groupon, or was it
a Living Social? They’re all so interchangeable. Regardless, one way
or another my boy and I were sitting in front of wheels in the
spacious studio near the University of Minnesota while Ralph, a cute
transplant from New York City, showed us how to make pots out of mud. Kinda.
The studio is tucked away in some kind of warehouse that houses the
strangest collection of little companies. On the way in, or the way
out, buy some cheap roses from Ecuador ($ 10 for a dozen roses — or two if you don’t mind them small).
The studio itself is large and full of shelves showing off the various
artists who sell their wares. It’s clean (as clay studios can be when
your primary ingredient is mud), and well lit. But the actual
throwing…
It’s frustrating! Ralph makes it look easy but it’s so not. If this
is your first time touching clay, forget making a Greek vase. Think
more like misshapen ashtray, or a mug done by Salvador Dali. You’re
not going to be making classical art; strive for modern art. But none
that is the fault of the studio, just me. I’d like to be better.
The «clay date» class is two hours, but it will probably run long. The first hour we spent getting step by step instructions on how to make the pot I
was never able to make. My boy, however, didn’t really listen and then
quickly threw a gorgeous bowl that he didn’t like for some obscure
reason. Apparently, he did this in high school. Over achievers.
Upon completion of the 2 hours (or 2.5 hours), choose the best «art» outcome from the lot (or in my case the only option still standing after 4 tries). Then the studio will fire and glaze (choose from white, yellow, green, red, or blue) your clay creation, and you pick up in a week. Voila!
It’s a unique experience and a great date if you want to do something
a little different! Thanks to Fired Up Studios!