I was fortunate to meet up for a coffee and chat with Claire Webb of The Paint Pottle, a creative 'paint your own pottery and ceramic art studio', in a Market Harborough tearoom one Wednesday morning recently.

I've known Claire for a few years now and have witnessed her shop in St Mary's Road grow to become one of the most respected businesses in Market Harborough.

So I was naturally intrigued to know more about how she was initially inspired to start out and how the business has developed over the years since its inception in 2004.

Here's a transcript of our conversation:

Simon:
Hello Claire, it’s good to see you as always, and thank you again for meeting with me for this short interview. 

Perhaps we could begin by you telling us a little bit about how you got into the pottery business and what inspired you to get started.

Claire:
Okay. Well, I set up THE PAINT POTTLE in 2014, so nearly 10 years ago, which is amazing!  I'd kind of made  a career change in order to look after my kids as they were starting school. You know, the hours were set, so I had to find something that worked around that which allowed me to bring the children up the way that I wanted and to keep a career going at the same time - but specifically in the creative industry, which was what I had been doing.

Simon:
So has ‘art’ always been your passion?


Claire:
Yeah, I'd always loved art at school. But when I was at school, your options really were to become a graphic designer or maybe an art teacher. I think the options available now are just so vast and the courses that you can do? - well they just didn't exist when I was at school.

So I went off and at first I did some marketing, communications and PR, and various roles with different companies, corporate companies, and then later working with art companies and charities. So the last place I worked before opening The Paint Pottle was The Mighty Creatives, which is a Children's Creative Development Agency.

Simon:
Was that in Market Harborough?

Claire:
It's in Leicester, so working in Leicester. And they were the bridge organisation for the Arts Council, looking after East Midlands. So we had quite a large area that we were looking after. And that was all about using arts and culture to promote self-development and communication and expression within young people. So that was amazing. And when I was working there, and you're working for charity, you are really ‘hands on’ and you get involved in every element of the business. So I was lucky to have worked with so many amazing, inspiring teachers and practitioners, but I kind of felt like I was wanting to do more of that myself.

And then there came an opportunity in Market Harborough to set something up that was creative and aimed at young people.

Simon:
Okay, excellent. And that’s THE PAINT POTTLE which as you say you started nearly 10 years ago?

Claire:
Yes - but it started off very small. So I was in a small room upstairs from where we are now with no visibility really, but somehow we managed to make it work and lots of people came. So it grew over the next few years, and then obviously there was a pandemic, so then it shrank a little bit! <laughs>

But since then, we've grown it from something that initially was seen as something specifically for kids. And, honestly I thought at first that was going to be my sole market, so we provided painting parties etc but then adults came in wanting to paint pottery. So now it's grown into something which I’m really proud of, being accessible to all ages and skills.

So we have people from babies right through to 80 or even 90 year olds coming in to paint pottery because we also work with different organisations around the town as well. And that’s because, well for me, the point of art is that it's very therapeutic and good for the soul.

It's a mindful activity, allowing self-expression and you don't have to use words. It allows you to explore and experiment and express yourself in so many different ways.

So now we have adult workshops as well as children's workshops. We still do children's parties, but we also do adult birthday parties, hen dos, team building activities, you know and whatever other opportunities come up to socialise and be creative.

Simon:
I think your creativity really comes through because since you first started, you’ve developed different ideas as to how you can encourage more and more people to take up a relaxing hobby that they've probably never thought of doing before.

Claire:
I guess from when I was young, I’ve always loved looking at pottery, and even coming into this Tearoom today (or anywhere else for that matter), you'll often see me lifting up and 'inspecting' the pottery on display!

And that's because I'm constantly thinking, ‘that's a lovely shape’ or ‘the glaze on that is amazing’ or ‘the colour is intriguing’ and all of that kind of visual stimuli inspires me to do various stuff in The Pottle.

So all of the workshops that I tend to put on will come from, maybe something I've been reading about pottery or I've been to an exhibition or a museum because that's my soul food. In a way, I have to ‘feed myself’ with looking at those beautiful pieces of pottery and colours and shapes and techniques. And then I want to share those ideas with other people.

So a lot of the workshops that I put on, especially for adults, are about sharing that knowledge. Yeah, but the kids’ ones, well, they’re more about having fun, so we'll do ‘bubble technique’ or it's about playing.

Simon:
And I know you put on activities for kids during the school holidays as well don't you?

Claire:
Yes, lots of activities and we sometimes go into schools as well if they've got a specific project that they want to do, or have a celebratory occasion at a particular time of year or something to do with their history that they want to mark and create a special project for. So I'll do that as well. Yes, it’s quite varied what I do!

Simon:
And I have seen your work develop over the years to also being connected with the spiritual side of living, and in particular ‘mindfulness’.

Claire:
Yes, well they fit so well together. So with the therapeutic benefits of art and pottery painting itself, you have to ‘slow down’. In fact, when you're creating ceramics together, you really have to connect with the materials that you are using, and you naturally ‘slow down’. It doesn't allow you to really think about anything else when you are engaged in an activity like this. So it's mindfulness that is really important and it’s a sense of meditation. So I have done courses combining both pottery painting and the art of meditation, and they've all been very successful.

Simon:  
We live in stressful times don’t we? And I think everybody needs a lot more exposure to this because we're all rushing around so much and for the sake of our good health, we need to find opportunities to take time out to relax more.


Claire:
Definitely, and I think post pandemic, we've quite quickly slipped back into our old habits and actually we need to remind ourselves to take up more time for ourselves.

And you know, when people come into the shop, they often say things like, ‘it’s lovely and relaxing and so peaceful in here and calm’.  And that's what I treasure about the space that I've created and that people feel comfortable. And, you know, they might not come in feeling particularly confident about painting, but they certainly leave feeling uplifted because we really like to help them, give them tips and techniques and they’ve got all the tools there that they need as well.

And then with specific workshops, we might go into more detail about a particular technique or with the ‘Art and Soul Workshops’ that we run, we meditate. And then from that meditation, and the visualisation that we've done, we create forms of art as well.

Simon:
I think for a lot of us, and ‘cause we're so busy in our lives, we've forgotten there are hobbies like this that we could be taking on which will take us away from that work environment for a time which will ultimately benefit our ability to do a better job!

Claire:
I also think that people want a ‘commodity’ at the end, you know, something to show for it at the end of the experience. And actually you do come away with a beautiful thing that you’ve created at the end of pottery painting, but actually it's more about the experience and the connection that you are feeling at the time - the sense of ‘self’ that you suddenly become aware of. Whereas, you know, if you don't stop and give yourself that time, the stress can continue to build up.

Simon:
And, as you say, you can accommodate all people from children, mothers/dads, working people and people in retirement. So really anybody can benefit from this.


Claire:
We're open Tuesday - Saturday. There are two sessions a day. And then often with the workshops, they're on at weekends or in the evenings as we try to provide options for everybody to get involved if they want an experience.

Simon:
And these sessions are for people from complete beginners to those with more experience?

Claire:
Yes - you know, we get people coming in and they might say, ‘oh, I haven't picked my paint brush up since I was at primary school!’ And that of course can be a bit daunting when you're faced with a blank piece of pottery, but we try to help with ideas and techniques and give plenty of encouragement. But then, the kids are usually much better at just 'getting on with it!' - they're fearless!

Simon:
So people shouldn't be put off if they feel like that, they can just come in.

Claire:
Yes, because it's good to try new things.
It's good for your sense of wellbeing. It's also good to talk about, you've got something to show at the end of it, that you've created yourself and you can be ultimately proud of.


Simon:
And I imagine it’s good for you socially as well.

Claire:
Absolutely, yes. So we recently had a group come in. It was quite a large group of which some had painted pottery before, some hadn't done it before, but you know, with every piece of pottery they collected afterwards, they were absolutely thrilled with. And you know, that gives me a real thrill, a real ‘high’, basically to know they’ve enjoyed the experience.


Simon:
So how would you encourage somebody who's never done this before, who perhaps is a little bit nervous about doing it, to give it a try? And would they be able to come in on their own and just turn up or is it best to come in with a friend?

Claire:
They can come in on their own. I mean, we’re always there, and we’re quite ‘hands on’. Of course, we'll leave you alone if you want to be left alone.  But we are quite happy to share ideas and as said, I have been doing it for nearly 10 years and I've got lots of ideas to share and we've got so many different tools and techniques that assist you as well. You know, you're not going to go away disappointed.

But, if you choose to come with friends, it's a nice opportunity to sit and have a cup of tea and paint as well.  You know, it's a very social thing and it's nice to look at each other's work. I get lots of university students coming back for the holidays and they'll come and meet up, maybe add to each other's pottery and spend time together.


Simon:
So the procedure is, people would come in and they would leisurely paint a blank piece of pottery, and then they come back to collect their work later after it's been treated.

Claire:
Yes, so once they've painted their pottery, they leave it with us, we clear glaze everything, and then we fire it in our onsite kiln. That usually takes between a week and two weeks, depending on how busy we are and what time of year it is. And then we'll let them know when it's ready to collect, so they can come back to the shop, pick it up and enjoy re-living the occasion!


Simon:
That’s brilliant, so thanks very much Claire. I know that will give people a lot more of an insight in what The Paint Pottle does and I’m pretty sure more people will be inspired to come along and give it a go.

Thank you for your time.

Claire:
My pleasure.

(Simon Perry of The Bestof Market Harborough was talking with Claire Webb, owner of The Paint Pottle, Market Harborough - April 2023).

The Paint Pottle
St Mary's Road
Market Harborough
Leicestershire
LE16 7DS

https://www.thepaintpottle.co.uk/
07543 112554
claire@thepaintpottle.co.uk

See The Paint Pottle's Feature Page on The Bestof Market Harborough Here.