Jessica C.
Yelp
You know that line in 10 Things I Hate About You when Chastity says, "I know you can be overwhelmed, and you can be underwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" This imaginary adjective best sums up my walk-away impression after my first go at Brush Strokes II.
Brush Strokes is located right next door to Squeak Soda Shop. It is run by a nice older lady named Linda who has owned the business for 8 years. It started as a "paint your own pottery" place, and Linda has recently expanded it to also include a (very) small bead shop, "Kritter Korner" (where you can stuff & dress your own stuffed animal), glass fusing (still not entirely sure what this entails) and creating your own tshirt design. Each of these last 4 ventures occupies a very small space in the shop- DON'T go expecting to find a great alternative to Build-A-Bear or a full-size bead shop. The majority of the space is dedicated to the pottery & painting materials.
There are TONS of pottery pieces in all shapes and sizes to choose from. Plates, bowls, mugs, tea pots, dog bowls, light switch covers, vases, jewelry boxes, and plenty of ceramic creatures (frogs, dogs, butterflies, mermaids, eggs, etc.,). Options make me happy, and I already have my next two painting projects planned out. There is a "Kids Corner" with smaller ceramic pieces that are all $10 or less. Each piece of pottery has its price written on the bottom, and they seem reasonably priced. I purchased a large mug to paint for $21.48 with tax.
I'm not a huge fan of how the paint system works. If you buy one of the smaller pieces, you get a complimentary choice of 3 different paint colors to work with. If you get a larger piece, you can choose 5. Any additional colors are $1/color, which seems pretty steep considering how little paint you need to use most of the time. The paint color selection is good, but not great.
Linda fires twice a week, Mondays and Fridays around 3 PM, so the max length you'd have to wait for your piece to be ready would be 4 days.
While the type of arts & crafts that Brush Strokes provides can appeal to just about anybody (and I will probably go back to paint more things because I am a dork), it's definitely BEST suited for kids, and ideally a small group of kids. As an adult with no children I may not exactly be Brush Strokes' target customer, but I did enjoy my time there and will go back.