Caufield Clay Works

My fiancé and I bought a Groupon for Caufield Clay this summer. The teacher (a lady) was great and the class was entertaining and fun! I’d never thrown clay before, and my partner had. Although my pieces weren’t magnificent they were symmetrical and smooth. The lady commented they were pretty good for a first-​timer. We gave our names and chose our glazes after initialing and numbering the items we wanted to fire.
After 6 weeks we called and they said «Oh we told you 8 weeks! Call back.» We called back and they said that our item number didn’t exist and there was no way to find our pieces. Flash forward to JANUARY and we get a call saying our pieces have been hanging out for months. If they were hanging out for months, why didn’t you call us earlier? Why couldn’t you look up our items when we called after 8 weeks?
We got our pieces back tonight and they are awful. The person who glazed and fired them does not care about their customers. Chunks are chipped from pieces (post-​glazing), fingerprints mush into the sides, gashes are on the bottom, and symmetrical round pots have been mashed into disfigured blobs. The glaze is burnt and looks nothing like the example glaze during class.
If you want a fun experience and to be proud of your work DO NOT GO HERE. The initial experience could be fun, but they’ll destroy your attempts. Don’t waste your money or time.

We had a really fun mom & daughter activity at Caufield. The instructor was so entertaining and casual, and made it a really memorable experience. My mom had never thrown clay before and he made it easy to learn without ever being patronizing or judgmental — he’s just a great teacher for people of any skill level. We were in a small group of 10 or so, with a few people on dates, adult families like ours, and a few solo folks. Wine is provided but not endlessly, so bring your own bottle if you want more than a glass or two (but honestly your hands are too full of clay to hold a glass often anyway). We had plenty of time to make a few pieces and decorate them at the end. We were the last ones to leave and the instructor invited us to stay as long as we’d like. Check him out on Groupon, though he says that you can book directly through him for a very similar price. Highly recommended and we would love to return!

Amazing Class! Relaxed environment, very skilled, helpful, and fun teacher… OH YEAH and WINE! Great time with friends. Got to keep a few pieces and they were fired, glazed, and ready in a timely manner. Overall the best art & wine class I’ve taken

I really wanted to give a great review. I purchased a Living Social deal for date activity including chocolate and wine and all materials included.
Copied and pasted directly from my certificate:
Caufield Clay B. Couples’ Pottery Making Experience for Two Including Materials, Wine, and Chocolates.
Experiences are customized based on experience level * Pottery made will be fired and finished an available for pick-​up on an agreed upon date * Must be 21+ to consume alcohol *
Arrive to the activity, materials were included. I figured the wine and chocolate must be at the end.
Boyfriend had fun. I had less fun because the owner made rude comments about people with prior clay experience, as I have, being challenging, difficult, and not as good as first time people. I guess that is customizing based upon experience, as promised on the certificate, but customizing to make your customer feel unwelcome is not cool. Minus one star.
The 2 hour time, which was actually more like 1 hour and 45 minutes because he started a few minutes late and he rushed us out a few minutes early. Minus one star.
As he was rushing us out, he said the wine and chocolate is bring your own. The purchase certificate clearly states they are included. Minus one star.
At the studio, he said we would be contacted in 4 – 6 weeks to pick up our glazed and fired projects. It has now been 8 weeks and still haven’t heard from him even though he posts «making hundreds of calls to pickup projects» on his facebook. Minus one star.
If you feel like paying $ 99 (on a coupon deal) or $ 300 (directly through the studio), have at it. I want to recommend it but I cannot.