Pottery At South River Colony

Our family recently moved to Edgewater, and have already enjoyed many hours painting at the Pottery. The owner is very friendly and helpful, the selection of pieces to paint is terrific, and the shop is comfortable and well-​lit. Best of all, there are no hourly fees for studio time, so you never feel rushed when working on a complicated piece. Hand-​painted ceramics made wonderful Christmas gifts this year! We’ll definitely go back again and again.

This place is new and I hope it will gain some traction, because compared to the competition in downtown Annapolis, it is much easier to park here with a bunch of kids. However, given the location in an Edgewater strip mall, it should be at least a little cheaper than the competition. But it is not. Another minus is that the owner runs the toy store across the street, so the pottery store is almost always locked, with a sign on the door to call him to let you in. It feels like a bother, and I felt pressured to hurry up so he can run back to his other store.
Saw his ad for a free baby footprint tile and brought the baby along with my older child. The footprint wasn’t in soft clay, but just paint on a hard tile, so it was only flat, 2-​dimensional, rather than an imprint that could be painted before glazing. (That would have required two visits, though.) What’s odd is that he insisted on adding my baby’s name and birthdate via a «girl» (not an adult?) who works for him, and he said she had the best handwriting. Not so much. The writing was crooked, blurry, and off-​center, in all caps and the end result looked like a child’s project. Which would have been a nice keepsake if it had been my own child’s sweet but messy attempt. I would have rather my own child done it, but he had rushed us out and locked the door behind us and zipped across the street to his toy store.
Also the owner asked for the «coupon» for the free baby footprint tile, but he hadn’t printed a coupon, only made the offer in a local print ad, one of those glossy magazines with ads/​coupons for local businesses. I had to show him his own ad for him to believe me. I think with some better patience and customer service, this shop could do very well. The competition in downtown Annapolis offers a much more warm and inviting atmosphere for the money.

My daughter and I love this place! Lots of different options to choose from for painting, nice sunny studio and the pottery is fired very quickly and ready to pick up. Nice convenient parking and a great kid’s bookstore and restaurants nearby!