In many ways, Tammy’s Ceramic Shop looks like a typical paint-your-own-pottery shop.
But spend any amount of time there and you’ll discover it’s nothing like anything you’ve seen before.
“This place is like this little jewel that nobody knows about,” noted customer Karen Suetterlein during a recent ceramics class at the Rochester shop. “Before I came here I looked all over Western Washington for something like this. Nobody does what she does.”
Tammy Shumate started her ceramics business 13 years ago in downtown Olympia. She said she chose the field because ceramics had been a passion for her since childhood.
“When I was a kid my mom and I used to do ceramics together,” Shumate recalled.
About eight years ago, downtown Olympia crime and politics got to be too much for Shumate, and though she loved her business, she started contemplating closing shop and seeking employment elsewhere. That was when her husband, Jack, urged her to keep doing what she was doing and made her an offer she couldn’t refuse: He would build her a shop next to their home in Rochester near the South Sound Speedway.
What makes Tammy’s Ceramics Shop unique is that it offers a mixture of contemporary and traditional ceramics experiences. Contemporary refers to the shops that have proliferated in recent years where customers can choose a piece of bisque, an unglazed pottery that has been fired in a kiln to harden it, to paint with glaze. The finished piece will then be fired a second time to create a sealed surface.
In a traditional shop, a much less common offering, people can choose a piece that has been created in a mold but not yet fired. They have the opportunity to not only clean the molded ceramic piece but also edit or change it since it has not yet been fired. One example is a vase by Vickie McMaken of Roy she calls “Fire and ice.” She essentially took a basic vase and created a jagged opening in the front so that the viewer can see both the front and the inside of the vase. McMaken, said she first met Shumate about three years ago at a make your own mold class. McMaken was retiring from ice skating and wanted to preserve one of her skates in ceramics. She said what she loves about the shop is Shumate’s encouragement for people to express themselves and to really make a piece their own.
“Once you say ‘hi’ that’s it, you’re home,” McMaken said.
Prior to owning her own ceramics shop, Shumate owned a travel agency and travel school. When changing regulations and standards following Sept. 11, 2001, created a decline in her business, Shumate said she began thinking about what she wanted to do. Though ceramics and travel are two very different careers, she said the one constant is the hands-on education that she offers. Whether it be painting a piece of pottery or creating something totally unique, she said she loves helping people.
Some of the regular classes Shumate offers include: brush strokes; raku; make your own ceramic tiles; make your own mold; and air brushing. She also frequently hires other artists to visit her shop, such as David Hoff, who will be teaching classes there Oct. 18-21.
When it comes to painting your own pottery. Shumate has more than 5,000 molds ranging from housewares to home décor and garden items to gifts in her shop. Because of the breadth of her offerings, many local contemporary shops actually buy pieces wholesale from Shumate.
Paint your own pottery pieces range from $3 to $200 or more. Customers can come in any time during business hours to paint or she offers a “Paint Til You Faint” event once a month where the studio is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on a Saturday. She also hosts private painting parties by appointment.
Shumate and her paint your own pottery business also make house calls. She said she visits many local day cares and assisted living facilities.
“My students range from 2 to 102,” she said with a laugh.
Terri Trowbridge, of Olympia, held her granddaughter’s birthday party at Tammy’s Ceramic Shop and said Shumate is really good with children, especially children on the autism spectrum. Trowbridge said she also used the shop as a retreat when she was recovering from chemotherapy and found it a nice place to relax. But her favorite part is the Shumate’s willingness to help people.
“Most places I’ve been to you get a piece and paint and you just sit down and you don’t get any instruction,” Trowbridge said.
