Let’s throw: Creativity abounds at Katie’s Clay Studio in Hampton

Amid her steamy scenes with Patrick Swayze, the character played by Demi Moore in “Ghost” makes working on a potter’s wheel look easy.

So does Katie Petrovich.

The owner of Katie’s Clay Studio in Hampton starts spinning a wheel, and within minutes she has crafted a high-caliber creation.

“I’ve been throwing since I was in high school,” she said about the development of her expertise, using the Old English-derived term for the pottery process. No tossing is involved.

Instead, much of the emphasis is on keeping the clay centered as it starts to spin, so that it doesn’t end up being flung far and wide.

First-timers, of course, are likely to make somewhat of a mess, until they get the hang of working the wheel. At that point, pottery can progress into a passion that’s satisfied by visits to Katie’s.

“We have people who have been coming here for five or six years throwing,” Petrovich said. “They come and use the space as they like, with as much or as little assistance from us as they need.”

She and studio manager Amy Mangis, another longtime potter, are happy to help novices and veterans, alike, in their quests for quality throws. And for folks who don’t necessarily want to work the wheel, they’re welcome to apply their painting talents to premade pottery figurines, using an across-the-spectrum array of available colors.

Beyond pottery, Katie’s offers a selection of arts and crafts such as clay sculpting, canvas painting and glass fusion, for people of all ages.

“I feel like it’s pretty balanced between adults and kids who come in here, because adults relax,” Petrovich said. “It’s a time to decompress.”

The Indiana Township resident’s own interest in arts and crafts, pottery chief among them, was buoyed by three levels’ worth of ceramics classes she took at Fox Chapel Area High School.

“I had my first pottery wheel as my senior gift from my parents,” she said, “and it kind of all snowballed from there.”

She furthered her education by taking all the ceramics courses that Community College of Allegheny County had to offer, and eventually she drew on her family’s tradition of entrepreneurship to launch her own business.

“I started out of our house doing mobile, where we would go into the schools,” she said. “And then eventually everybody was like, where’s your studio? We want to come and see it.”

So she opened one in a 1,200-square-foot space not far from her present location, in the Allison Park Industrial Complex, off Route 8 at basically the Hampton-Shaler municipal line. At nearly triple the size, the current Katie’s provides plenty of room for groups to plan outings or parents to plan children’s birthday parties, or for individuals to hone their talents.

As an uncommon offering for art studios, Katie’s offers monthly memberships that allow crafters to work on potter’s wheels as often as they’d like. The studio has eight wheels in a dedicated area, and in the back are three kilns equipped with digital controllers to help ensure that the finished products turn out the way they should.

For now, Katie’s continues its mandatory-mask policy, regardless of covid vaccination status, primarily on behalf of younger visitors who aren’t yet able to receive inoculations.

In the summer, full weeks of Wheel-Throwing Camp are scheduled for youngsters ages 10 and older, no prior experience necessary. They’ll learn all about throwing, trimming, sculpting and glazing, and each week wraps up with Tie-Dye Friday, perhaps with the potential of presents for parents or grandparents who are Grateful Dead fans.

Prime pieces by Petrovich and Mangis are for sale at the studio, and between their handiwork and all the arts and crafts produced by customers, a prevailing phrase around Katie’s could be:

Makes a great gift.

For more information, visit www.katiesclaystudio.com.