It Feels Like Spring!

Hope everyone's been enjoying the sunshine! It was exciting to watch our window-painter scrape off the snowflakes and put up some spring flowers. She also painted a cute red bird in a bird bath, which seems to be a favorite :-)

We have lots of new pottery in the studio, as well as some great gift ideas for Mother's Day. Don't have time to paint? You have options! We'll be open from 11-7 on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 10). Make a reservation and bring mom in for an afternoon of painting and create a special gift together!

Thanks to all of you who showed up for our first Paint 'til You Faint event last Friday, it was a real success. We had two different parties booked that night--a bridal shower and a 14th birthday party--which made for a lively evening. We're definitely planning on making this a monthly event, like Therapy Thursday and Ladies Night. Join us from 8pm-midnight next month (date TBA) for a night of painting and hot chocolate!

Valentines Day

We've got a bunch of new pieces perfect for surprising loved ones on Valentine's Day. Heart Mugs, Bowls, Boxes and of course tons of idea books, stencils and stamps to create a personalized present. There's still time to paint and have everything ready for Valetines Day. Or if you're looking for something fun and creative to do on Valentine's Day, you should come by the studio. When buying two pieces, couples will get the second for half price with a reservation!

Picture Pieces!

It seems like every family has classic family photos. Our family favorites usually involved us kids and include pictures from a Halloween party when I was four, what has become known as the "rice cake picture" when I was a toddler, and among many others a photo of the three of us at the beach.

We can now put all those pictures on pottery! Forever immortalized on pottery. How fabulous is that? My mother was very excited. I chose the beach picture since I could think of some fun shells to put around the rim.




I also chose to make a box with one of the photos my friends refer to as "world's greatest," and although some of us are in our pajamas it's still one of our favorites.




All you have to do is bring in a picture or email one to us and we have special photo paper that can be fired. Although it only fires black and white, you can bring in color with the paint. It takes us about a week or so to get them back to you since they require two firings.

I had a customer who was in today and mentioned that a picture would be perfect for her parent's 55th anniversary. Seems like a fabulous idea and there's still time to make a unique and creative gift for Valentines Day!

I met up in Ashland with some of my good friends from California on New Year's Day. It was a very last-minute trip, but on my way out of town I was sure to stop by the studio to check out a paint kit and grab some 6" tiles. My friends have the most adorable little girl who was born on Jan. 13, and I wanted to get some hand/footprints done for them for her 1st birthday. Lucie picked out the colors she wanted and was so good while we painted her cute little hands and feet.

I brought the tiles back to the studio, added her name, age and the date, and fired them. I was initially planning on framing them--we have some really nice little frames for 4" and 6" tiles. However, on the drive home I remembered that we have stools that fit two 6"tiles.

I finished the stool with a really nice walnut stain (thanks, Laura, I'll remember to get that back to you at some point!), glued the tiles in, and then added a little grout to fill in the small gap between the tiles and around the outside of them. I couldn't have been happier with the end result. My friend received the stool yesterday and loved it. She said Lucie likes it, too :-)

Happy 1st Birthday, Lu!

The reviews are in!

As mentioned previously, the holidays were such a busy time for us, it was hard to know which way was up sometimes. Customer service is so important to us, and when there is a studio full of people all day long, it can be difficult to feel like you're giving everyone the attention they deserve.

Well, I got the validation I needed from some of our wonderful customers who reviewed our business on yelp.com. I love Yelp. It's a great way to learn about local businesses and share your opinions about them. I was so stoked to discover two recent reviews (besides my own...) that had such wonderful things to say about us. It totally made my day, and I couldn't wait to share the info with my fellow employees. Thanks, fellow Yelpers! You guys are fabulous!

To read the reviews, click here!

New Year, New Brushes

As always, we're working to better things at the wonderful world of BrushFire. It being a new year and all, it gives us the opportunity to have a fresh start and make some changes and improvements. On that note, we have new brushes! They are so lovely and they paint so nicely. It makes me very happy. We are also planning on selling some brushes so that you regular customers can have your very own that don't get the wear and tear of all of the other customers. Stay tuned for that.

Also, FYI, we have changed Clay Club hours. Based on customer feedback, we've changed from 2-4pm to 3:30-5pm, every Wednesday. 2pm seemed to be too early for a lot of families, so we're hoping that this will be more accommodating to your busy schedules. Please keep us posted so that we can better serve you.

And finally, thanks so much to all of our wonderful customers for their continued patronage and support. The holidays were a crazy time at BrushFire, and we wouldn't have it any other way. We loved seeing the beautiful masterpieces you created for your friends and loved ones, and I'm sure they loved receiving them! Just today I spoke with a customer whose daughter was so touched by the handmade gift her mother had made for her. Hand-painted pottery truly is a labor of love.

Hope to see you in the studio soon!

Happy New Year!

From all of us at BrushFire, we hope you have a fantastic new year! 2009 is going to be a great year.

New Pieces!

Mama let me paint a cute new piece today when we were at the studio. I painted green, pink, purple and yellow. It's gonna be soooo beautiful. There's lots of new pieces today. And a lotta boxes to climb on. The boxes have new pieces in them. My favorite star ornament came back too! I painted two, one for me and one for Yai Yai. It was fun.

Painting in the Snow

What a beautiful day it was today. It was so much fun painting and watching the snow fall outside. Mom, Courtney and I made it to work today in a record 45 minutes, should be about 12 for those who don't know. We got our work done and then we got a minute to paint, rare this time of year! It was a great day. And it only took us and hour and 40 minutes to get home.
With the way the weather looks right now it looks like we will be doing the same thing tomorrow!

two more weeks to paint pottery to and have it ready by christmas!!!! aggh!!!!

Just take a deep breath

The holidays are upon us. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite meals. I love everything Thanksgiving. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, all of it swimming in gravy. Yumm. We have everything you could need for your Thanksgiving Dinner. Platters, serving bowls, gravy boats, you name it. We are going to be hopping this weekend, but we always have room for one more. Bring yourself down, bring your lunch, and let's get some painting done! If it is for a friend, for yourself, or for your puppy, we want to help you create it!
Going to be out shopping on Black Friday? Join us after the madness for continued savings. Buy Three and Get One Free!!! Even on gift cards. Buy all your gifts and stocking stuffers on this day for the best savings. Then come back and paint over the coming weeks.
And have a fantastic Thanksgiving Weekend!

Mid November Already....really?

Hello painters! Is is seriously nid-november already? Crazy.
Things are getting pretty busy at the studio. Anyone not a subscriber of our email newsletter? We have a great deal for the day after Thanksgiving Sale. Get on our email list so you can get details as they are available. And stay tuned for more savings!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all have a great Halloween. We have enjoyed all the great pumpkins coming out of the kiln. Fall is the best time of year (according to me anyway) and the leaves are so beautiful today. I also love candy, so today, of all days, is fantastic. Hope you enjoy it as well. Have a great day!

Hello all!

I figured I should introduce myself as well. My name is Jessica, or Jess, I grew up in Eugene, OR and recently graduated from the University of Oregon. I love foreign languages, quilting and of course painting! Brushfire is just like home to me.

I first started painting there at age 11 when I attended a birthday party and have been painting regularly ever since. I remember when I was little I was always waiting around for my mother to finish painting and would walk around looking at everything being painted and washing random dishes in the back sink, gazing at the tiled sink. One of the owners told me then that someday he would hire me when I turned sixteen. I suppose I never forgot it, because when I started looking for work Brushfire seemed like the place I would most want to be and here I am!

It seems sometimes that my house only contains handmade pottery at this point, but there's always more to find and paint! My friends are now accustomed to receiving handmade pottery for all birthdays and holidays. The new and creative pieces customers bring in continue to inspire me with new ideas for new pottery projects. I hope to see some of you fellow bloggers and readers at Brushfire!

New Windows

Happy Monday!
So today as we were driving to school Courtney looked out the window and noticed that the window painting lady was at the studio. She was extremely interested to know what she was doing. Because we were on our way to school I told her we did not have time to stop and see what was going on. I figured that by the time school was out she would have forgotten about the whole thing and we could go on about our day. That was not the case. As soon as I got to school to pick her up she asked if the window lady was done. I did not know the answer to that because I had used the school time to do things other than keep up on the window painting progress. Courtney wanted to go see the "new" windows so we drove back by the studio on our way home. As we pulled up on the street she was almost giddy in the backseat. She ooohed and aaahed over all the pretty new windows, and proceeded with a million and a half questions about the window painting lady and the paint she uses and if the windows can still be washed and what happens when the rain gets on the window and can we still see the outside when we are in the studio and etc and etc and on and on and on....
Needless to say she has been telling everyone she sees about how beautiful the new windows are and how everyone needs to come see the pretty paintings on the windows. So if you get a chance to see them Courtney will appreciate it.
Have a great day!

Fundraising at BrushFire!

We had a GREAT fundraiser on Friday night. One of our favorite customers, Marriah, hosted a fundraiser and got a great group to come in and help her raise money.
Do you have a non-profit group that you work with? Would you like to host a great fundraiser? At BrushFire we donate 25% of the events proceeds back to your group. So your group, friends and family have a fun evening of painting and making gifts, and your group gets 25% back!
Contact us for dates for your next fundraiser!

Clay Club and No School Day's

Wow! This week has been crazy! We started our clay club and made some great animal masks. We also had our first No School Day Workshop today and it was so fun! I'll try and get some pictures posted soon so you can see what projects we are making, and how much fun we are having.
Next week we will do it all over again. Clay Club is every Wednesday from 2-4. And next Friday October 10th is also a no school day and we will have a workshop from 9-12.
Call the studio for more details and to sign up for these events, they fill up fast.
Clay is in the studio and we are loving it! Stop by and see what we have going on!

Meet BrushFire's Newest Team Member

Greetings fellow bloggers! My name is Jay, and I am the newest addition to Team BrushFire. Originally a Floridian, I recently moved here from Arcata, California where I lived for the last three years obtaining my degree in elementary education and studio art. I'm loving Eugene, even more so now that I have a great job working with such fantastic people! I'm really excited about the months to come. Things are going to get very busy soon with the approaching holiday season. We have some really fun Halloween pieces in stock, including skulls, pumpkins, and vampires. We're also starting to stock up on Winter Holiday pieces. We have a great ornament collection and I've noticed many of our customers are eager to get a jump on the holiday season--I hope to do the same! In addition, we started registering students for our Wednesday Clay Club classes and our No-School Day workshops. I can't believe how quickly they are already starting to fill up! Our first Clay Club class is tomorrow, and I'm sure Kate will let you know how it goes.

If you've never been in before, now is a great time to stop in and see how things work. We're eager to answer your questions and give you some helpful hints. Even if you think there isn't a creative bone in your body, come on in and surprise yourself! I look forward to meeting you!

Introducing Clay Club

We have a great new clay program starting in ONE WEEK!!! I'm excited and ready to get dirty. The best part about this new program is that we will create and paint our projects in one sitting. The pieces will be ready to pick up in 7 days! That's amazing. It used to take us twice as long. Thanks to new clay paints, and a new teaching method we have cut our turn around time in half.
Stay tuned next week, we will post pictures of our workshops and the great projects the kids are creating.
What more info? Check out www.brush-fire.com and click on the camps & workshops tab for dates, project lists and prices.
Have a great day!

Welcome!

Let me introduce myself. My name is Kate. I am part owner of a great business we call BrushFire. BrushFire is a paint your own pottery studio in Eugene Oregon. The other owner is my mom Nancy. But really we all work for Courtney, my 4 year old daughter, ruler of the universe. Or at least our universe. My husband Mike comes in for some "mandatory volunteer work" on the weekends, expecially in December. We are truly are a family business, and I wouldn't have it any other way.