- May 2, 2024
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Tamara Nottage opened Oh Happy Clay, at 204 S. Daytona Ave., Flagler Beach, after a ‘spiritual’ pottery experience.
Two months before opening Oh Happy Clay, a pottery painting and clay studio in Flagler Beach, Tamara Nottage signed up for her first pottery class.
“When I was a small child, I dreamed of working with clay but I was never given the opportunity to do so,” she says, showing off the first two pieces she ever made: a small, colorful flower pot and a heavy, paint-speckled bowl. “From my very first evening (in class), I was in love. It was the most awesome experience I ever had in my life.”
For Nottage, clay was more than clay. Making something out of nothing, shapes out of mud, made her feel like a creator. In a strange way, pottery helped her put the entire universe into perspective.
“I think, for me, it was a spiritual experience,” she said. “It kind of showed me hands-on how God shapes and molds us into the most beautiful people we can be. As I molded the walls on my first piece, it just kind of hit me. ... I was addicted.”
Initially, Oh Happy Clay, at 204 S. Daytona Ave., was meant to be a consignment shop for furniture and home décor. When Nottage bought the location in July, that was the plan. She and her daughter, JaySonia, moved in. The wheels were in motion.
Then, when Nottage got word that a kiln was available for purchase nearby, everything changed.
Before touching her first piece of clay, she bought the kiln, then signed up for two months of pottery classes.
After her first class, she recalled, “My instructor said, ‘You’re a natural.’ He said he couldn’t believe it.”
The studio officially opened in October, but it’s been constantly changing. Last month, Nottage went to her first pottery camp, in Ocala, where she learned new marketing and glazing techniques. There, she decided to incorporate fused glass projects into her studio, a technique in which glass pieces are collected on a clay “slump mold,” like a mosaic, then put in the kiln and melted together.
That technique will be added to the studio’s offerings in April.
Barring the clay element, running a business is nothing new for Nottage. In Philadelphia, where she lived until 2006, she used to be a real estate investor. She moved to Flagler in the height of the housing bubble, but she was tired of that line of work.
She opened Wishy Washy Laundry Service, a “valet” laundry shop that picks up and delivers for its clients, which is still operating down the street from Oh Happy Clay in Flagler Beach.
Looking forward, Nottage wants to incorporate more clay into her studio, rather than have it be so paint-heavy. But already, she has established a unique atmosphere in her little shop near the pier. Spanish-classical music plays in the background. The smell is sweet, like soil and perfume. And almost every night, she hosts a different theme
Wednesdays are Ladies Night, where wine and cheese are provided, or a tea party, while women work.
Sundays are Daddy and Me Night, where fathers are given 15% when they are accompanied by a child.
There’s even a Date Night, set up in the back room, with lit candles, strawberries, grapes, wine and, of course, the sound track from “Ghost” playing while couples mold.
Nottage rents the space out to “resident potters,” as well, and for after-hours parties. She brings her services out on location, too.
“This is really cool, because it was my first,” Nottage said, holding up the first piece of pottery she ever made. “But this is a terrible bowl.”
She laughed, glancing over at the pottery wheel resting beside a window. She knows that, after all this, she’s still got a lot to learn. “Oh, I can use the wheel,” she said. “But my confidence level is nowhere near to where I can teach it.”
Call 986-5481 or write [email protected].
