4 common reasons for why you may not have received your pottery completion email:

1. It hasn’t been 6 full business weeks yet. Please note that pottery takes roughly 6 full business weeks (excluding holidays and studio closure days) to complete. As mentioned during your session and in our prep/post-class emails, this time allows your pieces to be dried, bisque fired, glazed, and glaze fired—transforming them into food, drink, microwave, dishwasher, and oven safe works of art. It is a true labor of love, as we put just as much care into finishing your work, as we do our own. As soon as your pieces are complete, the individual who booked your session (our point of contact) will be notified. We truly appreciate your patience!

2. Your email landed in spam or an alternate folder. This happens frequently and depends entirely on your email provider’s filtering system. Please check your spam, promotions, and other alternate folders regularly, so that your completion notification is not missed!! You can also search your inbox for our studio name, Pinch Pottery Studio, or the subject line “Your pottery is finished!”

3. You’ve unsubscribed or blocked Pinch emails. If you’ve unsubscribed from, or blocked our emails, our system cannot reach you. Please do not unsubscribe from Pinch messages—doing so will prevent you from receiving important notifications, including your completion email.

4. You are not the individual who booked the session. All class-related emails are automatically sent to the email address used at the time of booking. This includes your confirmation, pre-class info, reminders, post-class details, and pickup notification. If a friend booked on your behalf, please check with them directly.

A Friendly Reminder: The ceramic process is a true labor of love and takes time. We kindly ask that you wait until 6 full business weeks have passed before reaching out to check on your pieces.

Important Note: Pinch Pottery Studio is not responsible for missed communications resulting from customers unsubscribing from our emails or failing to check the suggested folders. These factors are outside of our control, and we appreciate your understanding!

Just yourself, an open mind, and the willingness to try something new! We'll provide the rest!! :)

Part of the fun of working with clay, is that it is a naturally messy activity (think making mud pies, as a kid). As such, we highly recommend wearing clothes/shoes that you do not mind getting dirty. As well as leaving jewelry at home, and putting long hair up.

With that being said, clay is just dirt! We exclusively use non-staining clay that will come right out of clothing when tossed in the wash, or even wiped with a wet paper towel. Given large quantity of people coming into the studio each and everyday, in conjunction with sanitary reasons, we do not provide aprons - please plan accordingly!

Yes, of course!! Quality over quantity. One finished piece per person comes with the cost of your session, though additional (up to 3 per person) can be finished for $10 each (cheaper than an IPA!).

This $10 fee covers the additional time and materials needed for us to us clean up your extra piece(s), glazing them, as well as firing them twice. A steal if you ask us!

After you leave your session, a tremendous amount of work goes into the completion of your piece(s). Once dry, your piece is carefully and thoughtfully cleaned up, fired, and glazed by us.

We first remove excess clay and jagged edges from the base of your piece with a sharp tool called a rasp. After that we gently smooth over all rough edges, before etching your name and session date onto the bottom. From there your piece(s) complete their drying process before being bisque fired, glazed in the color of your choice, wiped down, and fired once more. Each firing takes two days to complete.

Following completion, pieces are gently wrapped, bagged, tagged, and an email will be sent to the individual who booked your session/the email address used at sign up.

This process is a labor of love and can take upward of 6 full business weeks. We will reach out to the individual who booked your session, upon their completion!

Making pottery is a very time consuming and extensive process. While one-off sessions only cover the physical making portion of the process, a great deal of work goes on behind the scenes! Once you leave, we do all of the remaining steps for you - a combination of active and inactive work time, both equally important.

Once dry, your piece is carefully and thoughtfully cleaned up, fired, and glazed by us. We first remove excess clay and jagged edges from the base of your piece with a sharp tool called a rasp. After that we gently smooth over all rough edges, before etching your name and session date onto the bottom. From there your piece(s) complete their drying process before being bisque fired, glazed in the color of your choice, wiped down, and fired once more. Each firing takes two days to complete.

Following completion, pieces are gently wrapped, bagged, tagged, and an email will be sent to the individual who booked your session/the email address used at sign up.

This process is a labor of love and takes roughly 6 full weeks on average.

That said, we kindly ask that you wait 6 full weeks before reaching out to check on the status of your pieces.

Our teeny tiny team greatly appreciates your patience as we work hard to finish many, many customer pieces, in a timely fashion. Thank you!!

Absolutely!! Our clay and glazes are all non-toxic as well as food and drink safe!

Once your pieces are complete, an email containing pickup details and instructions will be sent to the individual who booked the session (using the email address provided at sign-up).

We will hold your finished pottery for four (4) weeks from the date of notification. As a small business with limited space and many customers visiting each week, we kindly ask that you plan to pick up your items in a timely manner. With the studio open seven days a week and often operating from morning through evening, there are plenty of opportunities to collect your work within the 4-week window.

Traveling or having an extra busy month? We understand! We’re always happy to hold onto pieces for longer, when needed, however this request must be made before the 4-week pickup window ends.

After four weeks, any unclaimed items will be set aside for donation and will no longer be available for pickup.

Please be sure to check your spam, junk, or alternate folders for this email. Pinch Pottery Studio is not responsible for missed or overlooked notifications due to inbox filtering, nor for pieces donated as a result of customers forgetting or failing to pick up within the allotted timeframe. Ensuring timely pickup is solely the responsibility of the customer. We appreciate your understanding!

As noted at the time of your session, the ceramic process is an intensely amazing, challenging, awe-inspiring, time consuming, and oftentimes scientific, process. Ceramics, as we like to say, is a great lesson in loss.

Even the most well constructed pieces, made by the most seasoned of potters can develop cracks, fissures, warping, glaze abnormalities, or even result in an explosion. Clay has a way of humbling you when you least expect it!

As such we cannot guarantee that your piece(s) will turn out exactly as you are envisioning.

While we do everything in our power to avoid such outcomes - through caring for your wares just as delicately and affectionately as we do our own, unfortunately the occasional undesirable outcome is inevitable.

When the likelihood of this occurring becomes evident prior to firing, we take the time to thoughtfully remake your piece(s) (I have actually never come across another pottery studio that does this).

However, if these issues arise during the final stages of the ceramic process (ie the glaze firing), then we unfortunately will not know of them until they are out of the kiln. As such, we may not have the time to remake your piece prior to pick up.

When this occurs, you may find a little bonus item in your bag! We also welcome you to come back, and make more wares in the future!

Please note that the cost of your session covers the experience itself. While you have the chance to walk away with finished, usable wares, it is not a guarantee. As such, we will not provide you with a full or partial refund of your session, when pieces do not turn out as expected.

Thank you for your support of our small business, and for respecting our policies!

Sure can! We exclusively use very high quality stoneware clay that mimics porcelain. In turn, it is highly durable, dishwasher, microwave, and even oven safe!

As a reminder, Pinch Pottery Studio is a proudly woman-owned small business, operated entirely by one person with no outside funding or financial backing. We’re a boutique studio dedicated to offering high-end, hands-on pottery experiences in an intimate and creative setting.

We kindly ask that you refrain from requesting discounts or additional deals, as we do not offer promotions upon request, nor will we negotiate pricing. Our rates are thoughtfully set below the going rate for similar pottery classes and experiences in Southern California, San Diego, and beyond, in an effort to keep them as accessible as possible year-round.

While we completely understand the desire to save, requests for further discounts can feel disheartening and discouraging to our small but incredibly hardworking team. Like many independent businesses, we operate with limited resources and thin margins, relying on community support to sustain what we do. Every booking directly helps us keep the studio running, pay our team fairly, and continue offering meaningful, hands-on creative experiences.

That said, we do occasionally run seasonal promotions or special offers throughout the year. The best way to hear about those is by keeping an eye on our newsletter or Instagram.

We deeply appreciate your understanding and continued support, and we look forward to welcoming you into the studio soon. 💛

No.

Mixed group sessions are strictly bring a friend, make a friend style! Given that these lessons are small, intimate, and capped at (up to) 6 participants total, we kindly ask that any parties larger than 2 people book a private session, or alternate workshop.

This request is in an effort to keep things fair for all, as well as allow us to maintain the community inspired atmosphere we have worked so hard to achieve.

With that being said, we actually used to allow parties of 3 to book this offering. However, we quickly found (through our own observations, and well as customer feedback) that it ultimately took away from other people's experience.

I'll provide an example:

Image you just moved to San Diego. You're looking to meet new people and try new things, so you signed up for a mixed group wheel throwing lesson. You're going solo, but it's "bring a friend make a friend" style, so you hope to walk away with not only a new hobby, but maybe a new friend too. You're super excited, and look forward to this class all week! However, once you arrive, you quickly realize that the only other participants are three people who booked and came together. As such, they spend the whole session exclusively chatting with one another. While you do make a fantastic coffee mug, that you can't wait to use, you unfortunately did not make any new friends.

To that end, at only $20 more per person, the private lesson will not only offer a unique atmosphere for you and your friends, but it will also provide you each with extra time at the wheel, more hands-on instruction, etc. without the addition of other parties or individuals.

I promise it's just as much fun (if not more fun), than our mixed group sessions, and well worth the extra few dollars! :)

Please note that if we find this policy to be violated, we will remove you from the communal session and refund you for your bookings.

When you book a lesson, our tiny team begins preparing for your arrival almost immediately; an instructor is assigned to your time slot, schedules are arranged, clay is prepped etc.

Without upfront collection of payment, we have found that people are less committed, and last minute scheduling changes are more likely to arise. When this occurs it means a loss for our business, as well as a missed opportunity for someone else who wanted to try their hand at pottery.

With that being said, time slots will not be held without payment, no exceptions.

We are 7 days a week, with our operating hours taking place from 8:30am-8:30pm! However, please note that lessons, drop-in time, and finished pottery pick ups are by appointment only. Please refer to individual booking calendars for session availability!

If you are looking to come by to pick up, or simply explore the studio, we highly recommend calling ahead, as our schedule is subject to change.

We are actually the only pottery studio located within the heart of downtown San Diego. While we are technically East Village, we border Gaslamp, and are walking distance from the Petco Park, the library, Seaport Village, and many amazing restaurants, bars, and shops.

Being that we are a downtown studio/store, we unfortunately do not have our own parking lot. That said, both free and metered street parking is plentiful. Many public lots are also within close proximity.

Please note that on days in which the Padres have home games, downtown can be quite busy. Thus, we highly recommend accounting for traffic and leaving ample time for parking! We will not be able to add extra time to your session, should you arrive late.

As a small business that operates exclusively on appointment-based scheduling, maintaining a strict timeframe is essential. We kindly ask that all customers arrive on time and ready to begin at their scheduled start time.

For private lessons and events, we are happy to accommodate a delayed start when possible (within reason). However, please note that we are unable to extend sessions to make up for lost time. With other appointments often scheduled immediately afterward, your session will still conclude at its original end time. Our instructors may make adjustments to the lesson format to help you make the most of the remaining time.

For communal classes and workshops, sessions begin promptly at their scheduled time. If you arrive late, we will not be able to restart or repeat portions of the class, including the overview and demonstration. Doing so would unfairly disrupt the experience of other paying participants. While we’ll do our best to help you get settled and catch up, additional one-on-one assistance will not be available.

Think of it like attending a fitness class — if you arrive late, the instructor doesn’t pause the session or repeat earlier exercises. We appreciate your understanding, mindfulness, and consideration of both our team and your fellow makers.

No refunds, credits, or prorated reimbursements will be issued for missed instruction or portions of class resulting from late arrival.

Absolutely! We are happy to wrap, pack, and ship any and all finished pieces from your session. Shipping is a flat rate fee of $20 per address. This fee covers the materials needed to ship, the time it takes to wrap and pack your items, as well as postage expenses associates with shipping your pottery.

We do not enforce a strict age minimum at Pinch Pottery Studio — we’ve welcomed children as young as four years old. That said, every child is uniquely different, and parents know their kids best. When deciding whether or not to book, please consider your child’s attention span, comfort in new environments, and whether a 90-minute session will feel enjoyable and engaging for them.

For wheel-throwing specifically, we typically recommend ages 8+, as the pottery wheel requires more coordination, strength, and sustained focus. Children are welcome to participate in our Private Wheel Throwing Lesson offering when accompanied by a parent or guardian. The private setting allows us to customize the format, slow down the pace, and provide the extra hands-on assistance younger participants often need.

Children may also join our 60-minute Clay Play (handbuilding) sessions, as well as select themed and seasonal workshops, as long as they are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

All of our instructors have experience working with children in a studio environment, and several have formal backgrounds in education, bringing extensive child-specific teaching experience into the classroom.

If you’re considering booking for a child, we encourage you to reach out before scheduling. This allows us to plan accordingly, understand your child’s needs, and pair you with the instructor best suited for your session.