Fired Up in Okemos is a place where you can paint your own pottery, have it fired in a kiln, and pick it up later so that you can have a keepsake to treasure forever.
If you are artistic, or know how to paint, or use stamps or sponges it is actually very fun. You can choose to paint anything, from a cheap ceramic tile, to a ridiculously ornate, expensive vase.
You first will use a pencil to draw your designs onto the ceramic. Then you choose your paints from a color chart on the wall. The chart shows you how the colors will turn out after they have been fired in the kiln so that you will not be fooled by what they look like while they are in the bottles.
After you choose your colors you can get to work. You can use stamps, sponges, stencils, or just paint freehand if you like.
The studio is nice and colorful, and is decorated with pottery the staff has painted. It is all really, really good. Don't feel bad if yours doesn't look as good. Also don't feel bad if you really mess up your pottery (I.E have it coming along nicely but then suddenly stamp a big black eagle on it on a whim)
At Fired Up they will also charge you for the time you spend painting your pottery. This is your studio time. It can get pretty expensive, especially if you are with a lot of people. You leave your unfired pottery there, and come back in one week to pick it up. Sometimes there are accidents and pieces do not make it out of the kiln, but I have never, personally, known that to happen. They just warn you about it in case it does.
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