Review of The Artist In You at The Summit
Recently, my family and I went to The Artist in You (4015 Summit Plaza Drive Louisville, KY 40241-8103 (502) 426-1266 Mon-Sat: 10am -9pm Sunday: 12pm – 6pm ) to paint some pottery gifts for my family.The Artist in You has been at the Summit since 2001, and is a greatplace to make one of a kind keepsakes for yourself, family and friends.
When you walk intp the store, there are hundreds of of peices of pottery to choose from on the right side of the store, there are booths and tables down the middle of the store, and painting supplies on the left side of the store. First you need to pick your pottery – they are priced from $5 to $75. I wanted to do some plates with my kids’ hand prints on them, and there was a nice selection of plates to choose from – each of them about $27. Then we chose a table and sat down. Each table has a container of paints and brushes – but there are many other brushes and paint colors to choose from throughout the store. Then I had to decide if I wanted to paint a base coat, or just do the hand prints. They suggest you put three coats for everything you paint, so I decided to just jump right into the hand prints to get my kids out of the store as soon as possible. I asked one of the workers in the store for her help and suggestions for doing the handprints. She was very helpful with suggestions, advice, and the actual painting and placement of my kid’s hands. Then my husband took the kids out of the store so I could finish up the plates without images of bulls in a china shop running through my mind.
When I first got to the store at 5pm, I was one of the only ones there, but by the time we were done with the handprints, the store was starting to fill up. I finished up each of the plates adding a border and words to each one. I could have used stencils, stamps, or wash-off markers to help with my painting design, but I chose to just free hand everything to speed things up. It took a little over an hour to finish up the four plates, and by the time I was finished, the store was completely full and there were kids of all ages painting with their parents.
When I was finished, one of the workers took down my contact information, and rung up my plates. There was a price for each plate, a sitting fee ($8 for adults, $6 for kids 12 and under), a $2 fee for each kid she helped do handprints with, and tax. My total came to almost $32 per plate, however, I did feel it was worth it for the keepsake Christmas gifts. My kids’ hand sizes will be forever immortalized for our family with the year 2011, plus they’ll have an adorable, usable plate for years to come.
I left the plates with one of the workers. They will be glazed, fired in the kiln, and ready for pick-up in 1 week. The Artist in You has lots of pieces of pottery to choose from – mugs, plates, platters, goblets, coaster, tiles and many more. They provide all the materials you need and have a very attentive staff to assist you, provide guidance, advice, or walk you through the whole process if you need. You can make several trips to the store to complete your pottery, however you must pre-pay for the pottery, take it home with you, and bring it back to continue working on it. And they do charge you a sitting fee each time you come in to work on your projects. The Artist in You has an events calendar on their website with specialty nights. They can host birthday parties, Ladies Nights Out, corporate parties, and other events. They not only offer pottery painting, but glass fusion too…that’s for another trip!
By Guest Contributor: Caryn