Bitter Root

I went here on Friday night with my fiancé for the couples night intro pottery class. It was hands down, the best experience. I couldn’t have asked for it to go any better. We had Michael as our instructor and he was awesome. He explained everything in a simplistic manner and then reiterated each point as he went through each step. I arrived an hour and a half early. I signed in at the front desk. I wouldn’t say you would have to get there that early, but it would be best to get there as early as possible because I was the first to sign in and the class was full by the time I came back for the class that evening. I have a background in ceramics/​pottery so I know that things don’t always go smoothly when the pieces are fired in the kiln. The majority of the negative reviews on both of the bitter root locations is the bowl (s) they made were glazed poorly or they couldn’t find their piece. Understand that glaze goes on every piece differently. It depends on what color you choose and a lighter color is going to tend to look «better.» Overall, for $ 50 a person, this is a steal and a good night to spend with a loved one even if your bowl blows up in the kiln.

I am hooked. What a wonderful way to ease into retirement. The stuff is there for us every step of the way. It’s a wonderful artists community. As a member I have been looking forward to Wednesdays week after week, as there are always new things to learn. I thought I new the art when I walked into bitter root only to find out how much more there is to learn.
The location is great, no shortage of eateries. And if you can’t find parking near by don’t despair, park north of victory, put on you Fitbit and walk a short way.

I must say Rob has a very talented group of instructors. My daughter and husband have really enjoyed the classes. We look forward to many more classes. We would like to congratulate Rob on all his success too.

I took my daughter there a few weeks ago, she had a good time, however her pottery exploded in their ovens and we asked if we could get our money back, or a credit or a refund and the lady said ’ sorry things happen’ and said a manager would get a hold of us, and that person never did. We had spent a good amount of money to make this artwork and I was very surprised that given the situation they would not work something out or contact us. I would not go back because of this.

Many years ago I went from being a beginner at pottery and slowly began to develop it into an appreciable art, yet clearly no where near that of professionals who have been doing it much longer than I. Life happened as it always will and so, out of necessity I gravitated away from learning pottery. Fast forward to the present… as a prior corpsman for the Marines I served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Needless to say After that experience of 13+ years I developed PTSD. Not being one to be idle and depend on others to manage that malady or feel sorry for myself, I took it upon myself to get involved in pottery again. I knew this would help me a lot with managing my PTSD, but I had no idea how much going to Bitter Root Pottery would become my sanctuary for total peace. So I enrolled in becoming a member and from day 1 I have found a profound Zen like experience there. The staff that helps me along the way are very genuine in their desire to teach. I will not single out a particular one because to me, they all are beyond amazing in their own right. Then there’s Rob, the owner. Instead of me struggling to find any words to express my respect and appreciation for what he continues to teach me, I can only describe him in this way: I think the reason the universe is so huge is because it has to be in order to make room for his immense passion, huge heart, and gentle soul. His willingness to help doesn’t seem to be a conscientious decision, it is unselfish, natural, and without hesitation. When I see his work, I can’t help but think to myself, «Where does he come up with his creations?» The art work he puts out is classy, one of a kind, a pure expression of his soul, just outright incredible. The minute I walk in I know I will be embraced with, as I said before, a Zen like experience as well as an interaction with some very real, passionate, and caring staff. My frustration with PTSD not only has been contained while I am there, I found a certain level of peace carries over well into my day when I am not there. For that reason I am not able to thank Rob and his staff enough. You don’t need to question whether or not you have the ability to embrace the natural artist in you. If you find yourself thinking, «Well I don’t know about that,» Rob and his staff will most certainly, without question, show you that you indeed do have an inner artist in you. I cannot recommend this place highly enough. The staff at Bitter Root Pottery has become my new Ohana.

I went to Bitter Root today at 11.30 am with 2 kids. The place look good. Woman employee is on the phone. Man employee talks to my kids very friendly and he tells me to come back at 1pm even there is no kid class at that time for Saturday. I ask him about kid’s time he says we can come back to 1 pm class. When I come back women employee (the same one I saw in the morning) stare at me with any word. Her eyes has question on me why kids come at this time. No word from her about 30 seconds.
Until I started to tell her what I would like to do and why I come. She said there has no kids class at this time. I told her that a man employee told me to come back. She says this time is adult class, he was wrong. She don’t tell me anything and ignoring me so, I have to walk inside to asked a man. He said sorry to me. He said he asked his boss already and I have to come back tomorrow.
I am o.k. to know that he misunderstand and I give him 5 stars for his friendly I would like to come back but because very rude women who I don’t know she is a boss or not I can not accepted. I can not leave my kids to learn in the place where has people like her. No smile no welcome word. May be because we are Asian?

Brought my kids and some of their friends to a class during the week on one of their days off from school.
Classes were offered hourly so it was nice to have the different time options. It was kind of a last minute thing so we walked around the Village until the next available time. Make sure you arrive 15 mins prior to the scheduled time! If you don’t, you will miss out and have to wait until the next available time slot.
All the staff was really nice, the set up of the shop is really neat. You walk in, there are wheels set up to the left and cool pottery pieces throughout the store. The back of the store is the prep/​cleaning area. There are lockers to put your stuff in so it doesn’t get messy. They offer kids, adult and couples night classes. It’s a little pricey but what isn’t in LA? I figure if you make a really cool piece, you can display it somewhere in your home and that would be worth it, right? Overall great layout and fun spot.
My only complaint is I never got a call for our finished pieces. I ended up calling to check on the status and was informed that I was actually called. Maybe they had the wrong number? It was just odd they never followed up from that first time they supposedly called me. Anyway, this is a new spot so I’m sure they are just trying to get the hang of everything.

I took the intro class everyone was super nice & helpful. After signing up for a month of classes (which is not cheap) I returned the next day.
Everyone was still very nice but not so helpful. The instructor taught compleatly different technique and was only interested in the people who had not yet signed up. I left frustrated never to return for any further classes. I was never asked why I was not continuing.
All instructors should teach beginners the same… students who have taken one class are not much better than first time students and should be taught «hands on». Student retention is as important as student acquisition.
Fun concept… I hope others have a better experience.

Such a great concept! Signed up three kids for the children’s workshop and they had a great time. Instructor was great. We looked forward to going back and taking another longer length workshop.
When arriving to pick up our completed and fired pots, this is where it went downhill. Each person is told to write their name on a post it note and leave it in their pot with their glaze choice. The employees at Bitter Root then inscribe each pot with the name of the person that made it. Not only was the name misspelled, it was not the same name. I asked if my child could remake his pot they told me they would remake it and write his name correctly. I explained to the manager that the whole point is that he made the pot and I would like him to remake it. She then asked how badly was his name misspelled, and mentioned that her name, Rachel, is misspelled all the time. I informed her that not only was it misspelled it ended up a different name. She apologized and said that we could leave the pot there and they would remake one similar. If I wanted a pot that someone else made I would just go to crate and barrel. After repeatedly explaining to her how ridiculous their policy is she offered to let my child remake his pot that day at that moment. I informed her that he was not with me and I was there just to pick up the completed pieces. She then said that she couldn’t help me. At this point I was and am still annoyed. She said that the reason it was misspelled could be because the employee couldn’t read my sons handwriting. I then pointed out that in the book where he was signed in, his name is spelled correctly. Either way, it was handled so poorly. I can not believe that a pottery shop that is in existence for you to personally craft something would find it acceptable to have their employee remake their mistake and to pass it off as your own. So disappointed because we as a family were looking forward to many visits here. I admit by the time all was said and done she did offer to let my son remake his pot when convenient for us but I refused to accept based in the principal of what should have been offered to begin with. There was no point to have to go through a debate on this and I refuse to return.

Last night we walked through the new Village Mall and when I saw the Bitter Root Pottery store, I had to stop.
I’ve seen pottery painting stores which are mostly geared towards kids but actual pottery throwing sounds like a good time to this Mommy.
They have 1 or 2 hour beginner classes to get your hands wet. Or if you needs some good therapy with an outcome that you can hold on to, they also have monthly memberships available where you can go in anytime that the store is open.
Kids classes are also also available which run 1.5 hours per class.
The person I talked to in the store was super nice and informative and I can’t wait to go in for a class!