Hot Mess Studios is one of a few great pottery studios in the Wilmington. They have group and…read moreindividual private lessons and parties for on wheel pottery, canvas painting, and piece painting. They have 3 speciality nights you can sign up for in advance. On Thursdays they do Ladies Night Sip & Spin where you get one hour 1 pot, throw as many as you like, keep what you like for just $10 more + wine. Fridays are "Filthy Fridays" where adults 16 and over can sign up for a 7 pm or 8:30 pm time slot and get 1 pot + 1 ball of clay with the option of more at $10 each. On Saturdays they do the same thing but it's family friendly sessions (ages 7+) from 1 - 6pm, and 16+ reservation only from 7-8 pm. They're closed Monday - Wednesday with an exception of private reservations in advance. If you have special time and group number requests I'm sure they can accommodate if you call ahead and plan. They're very responsive, professional and easy to schedule with. I did all my scheduling through email and received prompt responses. The gal running our lesson, Emma, was also so professional and sweet. She's great at what she does and I'd recommend any beginner taking lessons from her. When we arrived Emma greeted us at the door, walked us through the studio, showed us the process and helped us whenever we needed throughout the activity. I had a certificate for 2 hours, 2 people, and 4 pieces each. It was plenty of time and almost too much clay for two first timers, which is a good problem to have. I'm not sure if that special is still running but check their website to see active discounts - they run great deals, often, and are super affordable for what it is! I would highly recommend trying it out or giving as a gift!

Awesome studio, highly recommend that date night package. Fun place to take my wife on a date. Good…read moreatmosphere!

Studio membership is very flexible. Love the creative members. Owner is talented and engaging…read more Lots of creative projects and classes. My happy place

My daughter and I attended a class at The Painted Potter. We found the owner to be engaging and…read morevery helpful. We were doing a resin project and required input from our instructor. She was very helpful. The class was mixed with locals and tourists. We did have to come back a day or 2 later to pick up our resin waves. They were worth the wait!

Adorable cute place! Fun for a ladies night or a date. Highly recommend. Lovely owner who was super…read morehelpful!

Painted Father's Day mugs here and was perfect. Great environment for a little one to get messy and…read morecreative!

I have been here twice now to paint a mug & a little trinket jar. I love the selection of items…read moreavailable to paint, from mugs, to trays, chickens, piggy banks, plates, butter bowls, etc. The workers are usually helpful in suggesting the order of paints to use, giving ideas, or explaining how to use certain things like the lace. Both times my piece took 7 days to get back from them putting it through the kiln.

Extremely fun and a very good environment! I'd highly recommend going here! And there was an…read moreadorable kitten!

Really fun and comfortable environment with a heck of a lot of options to choose from. The owner is…read morevery sweet and my two girls 3 and 6 loved it. Safe to say dads turned out about and good and my 3 year olds did but still really cool.

What a great way to beat the heat on a summer vacation. I found the prices to be reasonable and she…read moreeven offers shipping if necessary. I really really enjoyed my time!

Love this place! Still have my plates I made there like over 10 years ago! Carla is the best!read more

The owner is pleasant until she's not! She was the only person in this day, no other helpers and…read moreI'm not sure there is ever any help. She was helpful to our group of 5 until 2 other groups arrived. You can't get your own paint or brushes and she doesn't have enough hands to help everyone. Very type A person and thats fine but it doesn't always work out. A week later when we went to pick up our items one piece was accidentally given away to the wrong person. While disappointing this could and should have had a better ending. The owner said she was able to locate the piece and we could stop by again once she has it. We don't live in Pawleys and the right thing to do would have been for her to offer to drop it off at the rightful owners house. She did refund the money but the end result wasn't what she wanted. She didn't sit for almost 2 hours painting an item to end up with the money.

I may have been more interested in shopping is they opened on time. I left a message on their phone…read moreand never received a return call. Before leaving town, we went back and it was opened. The pricing seemed decent, but we weren't greeted. After a few minutes a lady popped her head out but wouldn't get off the phone. Shopping is more than merchandise!!

I was in store and never acknowledged.I went to check out (only customer in store). I was…read moredeliberately ignored until I started to walk out after 10 minutes of waiting at counter. I then was waited on...the rudeness caught me off guard. Even though I love supporting local artists. I will never go in store again