Pottery with a personal touch in Bell Buckle

Scout, left, and Teresa Johnson glaze some bisqueware. The pale paint comes out of the kiln in glossy, vibrant colors. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Order this photo]

When her 15-year-old daughter, a student at Webb School, invited her to lunch in Bell Buckle one day, Teresa Johnson knew something was up. But Scout wasn't buttering her up for an increase in her allowance, a new iPod, or permission to go to a concert.

Scout wanted to go into business.

"She had a Realtor waiting for me," Teresa laughed. "I said, you don't even have a driver's license, how can you run a business?"

From platters to puppies, from teapots to turtles, from classic to cute, the pottery offered at the shop averages $15 apiece, but the some pieces are as low as $4. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Scout had a good reason for wanting to run her own business -- she'd seen her mother's success at it for years. And she had a good idea for what kind of business -- the same one her mother has. At the time, Teresa owned three paint-your-own pottery studios, one in Tullahoma and two in Murfreesboro.

Now, she owns four. In October, Teresa and Scout (yes, she's named after Scout Finch from "To Kill a Mockingbird") opened the doors to the Bell Buckle Pottery Place at 26 Railroad Square East, also partnering with Shelbyville's Gary Thomas.

"I have a free period at school and I can just walk down and check on how things are going," said Scout.

Expansion

The mother and daughter team discovered paint-your-own studios when they started going to one in Murfreesboro.

"Scout and I were regular customers when it went up for sale," said Teresa. "I bought it."

That was the Painted Clay Studio on Murfreesboro, next to Hastings on Memorial Boulevard. After that, she opened the Painted Clay Studio2 in Tullahoma, then the Pottery Place on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro. She wasn't really looking to expand yet again, but when Scout presented her argument she was convinced.

"I worked on a business plan with her," said Scout.

Each studio is a little different and each one offers something the others may not. At the Pottery Place, for instance, customers can get fused glass as well as pottery. At the Bell Buckle Pottery Place, those more interested in shopping for souvenirs than making their own can buy finished pieces.

"This is the only shop where we sell finished ware and another potter's work. We have a professional potter in Murfreesboro and we feature her work here," said Teresa.

Works in progress

Customers going to the Pottery Place will walk in and see shelves lined with what is called bisqueware. Unlike greenware, which has never been fired and has to have seams smoothed off, these items have already been in the kiln once (each shop has its own kiln) and now simply need to be painted or glazed before being fired again.

The three-dimensional blank canvases range from cute $4 figurines such as ladybugs or garden gnomes to elegant vases and platters for $45. A one-time studio fee of $6 pays for the time spent creating the masterpiece, and any others you want to purchase during your visit, as well as the glazes, the stencils, the brushes -- and the help.

"We cater to the artistically challenged," said Teresa joked. "We hope to be giving classes after the holidays."

"We'll help anyone who needs it," said Scout.

Scout has no fear of facing the public when it comes to making sales. While the Bell Buckle store is her first venture in ownership, she's been working the retail end for her mother for some time now. Of course, her theatrical experience helps. Currently one of the leads in Webb School's "The Importance of Being Earnest," she has also performed in the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival's "Romeo and Juliet." She plans on getting her classmates involved with the pottery painting as she has with the theater.

"I'm hoping to get them all down here," said Scout. "Especially the dorm students. It's something fun to do."

Fun and more

The "fun" part is why, when many other businesses are suffering, the pottery painting business is not, said Teresa.

"We're getting back to quality time with family," she said. "This is not about creating masterpieces, it's about quality time. The fact that you get some artwork out of it is just a plus."

As she has in Tullahoma and Murfreesboro, Teresa is offering that same opportunity to children throughout Bedford County. For a small fee, only a few dollars per child, she brings clay ornaments for each child, as well as the glazes needed to paint them.

"I take them in a toolbox and leave it with the teacher," she said. "That way, the teacher can do the project when she has the time. Then I pick up the ornaments, fire them, and put ribbons on them and take them back."

The children get to go home with a hand-painted ornament and Teresa and Scout get to introduce a whole new generation to a craft they love.

"We'll do birthday parties and girls' night out, church groups, that kind of thing," said Scout.

She's looking forward to helping out with this important aspect of her very first business -- as soon as she gets her driver's license.