Try Something New: Puffin Pottery Otley

Looking to try something new and unleash your creative side? We explore the world of painting, prints and parties at Puffin Pottery in Otley.

Transcript

00:00 You don't necessarily need to have any sort of talent. It's nice to have hints and tips

00:06 and I have a lot of amazing staff here that I've trained along the way who will always

00:10 help and support people that are coming into paint. But the best thing about it is that

00:14 it's just kind of have a go.

00:16 If you're looking to lift your spirits, particularly during the cold winter months, tapping into

00:21 your creative side can help to boost happiness and take your mind off stresses and strains.

00:26 Laura Turner has been running Puffin Pottery in Otley for nearly five and a half years

00:31 and she's passionate about the positivity that painting, printing, pottery and parties

00:36 can provide.

00:37 I fell into it purely by accident. We actually went to another pottery studio to go and have

00:44 my daughter's baby prints done when she was little. So we went to go and have this appointment

00:50 and I just fell in love with being there and there was a lot to offer. I enjoy painting

00:56 anyway but totally fell into it by accident. We're predominantly the painting around pottery

01:00 studio but we do have these wonderful, very talented people that come to us as well. We

01:06 have a wonderful lady that comes and does willow weaving. We have a workshop for fused

01:11 glass and stained glass. We do mosaicing so you can come and make your own mosaics. We

01:19 also have wreath making at Christmas so you can come and make your wreaths at Christmas.

01:24 We do lino printing workshops so it's a bit of a hub of creativeness and if you've never

01:29 had a go before, it doesn't matter if you've never had a go, they're all beginners classes

01:34 and then you can move yourself up if you want to progress in that particular workshop. So

01:39 it's all about just having a go and just trying something different.

01:42 The Puffin Pottery team welcome people of all ages and abilities throughout the year.

01:48 We have little ones coming in and sitting in high chairs and making their own little

01:51 marks with brushes and sponges right up to kind of older children coming in in groups

01:58 in their brownies and their scout groups and things. And then we have university groups

02:04 coming in as well, ladies' nights and private evenings that we book so you can book the

02:10 studio out exclusively. We have wine tasting nights and cheese nights as well.

02:15 Many may be wary when trying something new about not being perfect but when it comes

02:20 to painting, printing and pottery, perfection isn't essential.

02:24 If it's all a little bit of a disaster, it doesn't matter. You know, it's all about having

02:27 a go. Everybody thinks that it's got to be perfect, you've got to have the perfect lines,

02:31 you've got to do the perfect pictures. It's not like that at all. It's just coming and

02:35 having a go and just having a little bit of fun. It's all a bit of mindfulness as well.

02:40 You know, there's quite a lot of depression. Some people are quite depressed or they're

02:44 a little bit anxious and things and they could just come with their friends and just have

02:47 some mindfulness or just come by themselves. People are always welcome to come by themselves

02:52 and have a tea and cake and just paint. And I think sometimes your mind's just quite focused

02:58 on what you're doing and maybe you're not thinking about things that are bothering you

03:01 or things that are upsetting you. So it really is for everybody.