Paint Your Own Pottery—Five Monkey’s Inc.

I was recently invited to spend an afternoon at a new art studio, painting a piece of pottery. Now, I’ve done this a couple of times before, but this experience was so much different! It’s a super-intimate space, full of color, art, and music! Dina, the owner, is full of energy and is an artist herself. She let me pick out the piece I wanted to paint, gave me the basic instructions, and then, really, was hands-off. She’d check in on me once-in-a-while, but other than that, I could take my time and create.

Dina set up our meeting on a day that she didn’t have any other people coming in, aside from the occasional pop-in to pick up finished pieces. I had the entire place to myself and could just sit with my own thoughts. I don’t usually get the opportunity to just be still and quiet…meditate. This was the perfect chance to do that, though!

I picked my piece of pottery based on it being multi-functional. It can be a vase, a plant-holder, or a pen-holder, as it’s being used now. As I’m getting older and seemed to have acquired more and more things, I’m getting pickier about what comes into our house…it needs to have lots of functions to pass through these doors.

Next was the design…and here’s where I can struggle. Dina helped, though, because she has these cool new transfers that give you an outline that you can then color in. This was so good for me. I chose a rainbow, because, cute…and then free-handed a bit on the rest of the design. I tried to pick colors that would go with the rest of the décor in our house. Poor, Jason…he’s being taken over by pink. Lucky for him, I thrift a lot, so I can get rid of it easier down the road when I’m out of my pink phase.

Putting the transfer onto the pottery and painting it is kind of a dirty job. Cool part about this? I couldn’t be on my phone (almost) the entire time I was there. So, not only did I get to enjoy time spent being creative, but I also couldn’t be distracted by the never-ending land of the internet.

Once I was done painting, I left the piece at the studio for Dina to fire it, so it could get all shiny and pretty. It was done in about a week and was super easy to go in and pick up! She has all the finished pieces up in the window, so you can grab it when it’s convenient.

While you’re there, be sure to check out all the amazing artwork for sale from local artists, as well as, the record shop her son operates on the other side of the space. Five Monkey’s Inc. is a really cool concept, that encourages people to enjoy and interact with art. The pottery painting is the perfect complement to the art studio that Dina had already established. She’s also in a very convenient location, right off I-235, in Des Moines, IA, making it an even more appealing activity.

I know Dina would love to see you soon and she’s giving me a fun opportunity to offer my followers. If you go in and mention my name (Hilary Prall/H.Prall & Co.), you can get ½-off your studio fee! She has lot of different pieces of pottery, all in a wide variety of price-points, so this could be a fun + inexpensive activity for you. I think it would be a fun date-night, girls’ night, or day-out with the kids over winter break.

The next time you’re looking for something different and creative to do, be sure to check out Five Monkey’s Inc. You can find out more about the studio HERE. As well as follow them on Facebook (HERE) and Instagram (HERE). If you’re not in the Des Moines area, I’m sure there is a studio near you that offers a similar service!

Thanks again to Dina and her love of all things colorful + artistic!