It’s been 23 years and a few million pieces of pottery spread around the world. The Painting Pottery Café continues to provide an oasis for creative fun. And now seems like the right time to pass on the apron of ownership to Fern, who has been our manager for a number of years.   Owning this lovely little business in the heart of Brighton has been an absolute pleasure.  I would like to take the opportunity to thank all customers and staff, past and present, who have helped make the Pottery Café the joy that it has become – and a special thank you to Mark, my partner, who has been our ..read more

We are delighted and very excited to be able to welcome our customers back for painting and throwing from May 17th. All of our previous safety precautions will stay in place for the foreseeable future. This means restrictions on numbers and on the times we can offer. Please bear with us. However we will endeavour to ensure you have a fun, relaxing and creative experience ..read more

Happy Easter Everyone! We are looking forward to opening again next month. We will post opening times on the website in the coming days. We are taking bookings from May 17th on wards and confirming these at the beginning of May. Have a great weekend ..read more

A few years ago we celebrated some of our favourite inspirational women by painting their portraits on plates for International Women’s Day. We subsequently added Greta Thunberg as an strong and inspirational woman. This years theme is “Choose to Challenge” which all of our inspirational women have done in their own sphere. However the tsunami of effects from war, famine, dictatorships, capitalism and now Covid-19 reveals that more than ever we need to stand up for the rights of women, who disproportionaly experience the impact of these events. We must find our voice and not give up until the ..read more

The 1st episode of the new series started last Sunday evening on Channel 4. Wow....loved every minute. As Lucy Mangan wrote in the Guardian - "a precious hour of crafty tranquillity". It cheered me up no end! Get lots of great ideas and insight into the magical world of clay. Watch this space in the next few days as we will be introducing crafty workshops from a great bunch of creatives especially for you ..read more

A big thank you to all of our customers for supporting us this year. We hope to be back with you in the not too distant future. In the meantime have a wonderful Xmas ..read more

Henry Willett, born in 1823, was a keen collector of interesting artefacts. When he moved to Brighton in 1841, he began excavating items from the Sussex Downs, including old pottery. These fragments became part of a wider collection of ceramics he put together in order to tell the history of British people.  He believed that “the history of a country may be traced on its homely pottery” and started collecting, predominantly, ceramics that would normally be found on the British mantelpiece as a decorative object.There are some 2000 pieces in the collection now, and they can be found ..read more

This year has forced many students to adapt when presenting their final pieces to gain their BA or MA, and none more so than those working in practical fields such as ceramics.  For example, our wonderfully talented Holly (who you may have spotted on telly last summer) finished her Craft MA at the University of Brighton, and rather than show it in the usual physical format, she has had to adapt and display it online. The same goes for Sydney, who used to work with us but took time out to focus on her studies.  Luckily for all of us, this means we can admire the beautiful works of the ..read more

After a few last days of summer sun, the rain showers have kicked in, confirming that it is Officially Autumn. ?We all know what that means: everyone wants to be indoors! And what better indoor activity to pass the time than a spot of pottery painting? ?️ To help you get inspired, we’ve put together a few of our favourite bits and bobs that we’d love to paint onto a new tea mug, cake plate, or pasta bowl, to add to the cosy nests of our homes! Just click through the smaller images at the bottom to see them in a larger size. If there’s nothing that catches the eye, perhaps y ..read more

We’re so chuffed that we’re able to offer you lovely customers the chance to have a go on our pottery wheels again, so we thought to celebrate we’d put together a collection of some cool potters from the UK who have made marks on the ceramic world in history! The suffragette Sylvia Pankhurt once visited a pottery factory in Staffordshire in 1907, and noted that: “women turned the wheel for throwers and trod the lathe for turners.” But women have done so much more than the laborious parts of creating pottery: they have become throwers, makers, and decorators in their own right. This blog p ..read more