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Paint away as you potter

Lalitha Sridhar

The upmarket locality is all quiet roads and big bungalows. You ask the security at an ornate gate and an idling auto chap for directions to this new place where you can paint on pottery. They seem to think the Sun hasn't been treating you kindly and you are beginning to wonder if they could be right. Till you come up to this cute little artistic signboard, just off Chennai's pretty Taylor's Road, which says discreetly `Potter About'. Too discreetly perhaps!

A serene lane leads up to the all-white bungalow with a welcoming shop to its side. Step inside the blue door and you are looking at something straight out of a Mediterranean brochure. Simply white walls and vibrantly blue woodwork -- the trimmings of la ce curtains capturing sunny windows and a pretty motif which frames the walls in aquamarine artwork. There are cafe style seating arrangements and the tables are set with four tiles in the centre having the shop's logo painted on. On one side stand, a mo unted tile reads in cheerful hand painting :

Golden Rules of Potter About

* You must have fun.

* If you break it you own it.

* Do ask us for drawing assistance.

* You clean up your own mess.

* Don't break Golden Rule No. 1

If that brings a smile to your face, you find more to be happy about. They have prints mounted on the walls telling you about the painting of a Goya or a Velazquez or an El Greco. And then there are blue-and-white posters tracing the ancient history of p ottery. Or a wall of painted tiles which have you wondering at interior decor possibilities. Considering it is just one moderately-sized room, a lot is achieved without overcrowding or saying too much.

There are no counters lined up with goods for sale. Instead, you have coaster stands here and vases there, letter holders on the wall and tea trays by a corner stand -- all with a clear price-tag, making for the sort of now-that's-a-nice-idea handmade cu rios to gift or keep. Amongst it are salt and pepper shakers, cake platters, key holders and cups `n' saucers, Potter About has you pottering about all kinds of colour and ceramics.

A blue rack in a corner has a range of plain, white pottery which the `shopper' can choose from. From mugs to plates, bowls to teapots or even a plain tile to be set into some useful thing-about-the-house, you pick your blank `canvas'.

You can then make yourself comfortable at a table which comes with colours, palettes and brushes and set about finding the painter in you. While letting your imagination run into a riot of colours, you could ask for assistance, ideas or handy tips.

That would be the beginning of your `studio session' (Rs 100 for adults and Rs 75 for children, excluding cost of pottery which could be the small mug at Rs 50 or the medium teapot at Rs 200 or anything you choose to bring along). Music is almost always playing and the hum of the air-conditioner is drowned by the murmurs of mesmerised voices.

At the end of your `shopping experience' you would have created an individualistic piece of crockery. And found some personalised space in which you would have indulged your children or the child in you.

Everyone who comes her leaves their work of art with their name at the reverse bottom. It is sent for glazing and firing to an outside agency though there are plans of setting up an in-house oven for better quality control (different colours have to be f ired at different temperatures). And your signature pottery can be picked up in four days.

The shelf by the door had a mug for a grandpa and a `Happy Birthday To You' message for a little girl amongst a whole collection of other eclectic strokes.

Anjana Sunil is more your hostess than your seller. Brain behind this idea, (``which can be found quite frequently abroad but I don't think it has been tried before in India'') the petite young woman is a graduate of Lalit Kala Akademi's College of Arts and Crafts and has to her credit exhibitions of pen and ink as well as oils.

``Helping my father with his business, I wanted to do something which was connected to what I had studied and enjoyed,'' says Anjana. She set up this shop as a service offered by Global Adjustments, a relocation consultancy agency.

Also planned are corporate get-togethers, birthday bashes and sessions for women where you are welcome to bring your own food and drink or have it catered to complete your party mood.

Weekends come with kiddie workshops (Rs 125 per child) in storytelling, crafts or puppetry alongside the painting and pottery. Already with a `very good response', there is definitely some pull to this china shop.

Picture by Bijoy Ghosh