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New Year’s resolutions are personal goals we make at the start of the year, so for 2026 let’s challenge ourselves, step outside of our comfort zone and try new experiences. At Kil’n It Pottery Studio & Tipsy Paint Brush in Enfield, CT, anyone can come in, become creative and get in touch with their inner artist.
Located at 610 Enfield St., Kil’n It Pottery Studio & Tipsy Paint Brush is a women-owned business operated by mother/daughter team Wendy Gingras and Melanie Markham. Two studios together in one very spacious location as Kil’n It Pottery Studio offers sculpting and pottery wheel workshops with step-by-step instruction, while Tipsy Paint Brush offers paint & sip parties with canvas painting and wine bottle painting. Tipsy Paint Brush is also a BYOB (Bring Your Own Beverage) establishment, meaning guests can bring their own alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and snacks. They must be 21 with a positive ID to consume alcoholic beverages.
Melanie is the manager of Kil’n It Pottery Studio. She’s been doing ceramics and all other types of mediums of art for 15 years. Melanie has been in love with art since she was little, especially with her mother Wendy always gearing her towards creative outlets. She worked alongside other master potters and managed other pottery studios since she was fifteen. “I’m very passionate about spreading knowledge about art,” Melanie said. “I’m really grateful that we have so many young artists that come in here that I can pass my knowledge along to and send them off to great futures.”
She continued, “I love that we are such an inclusive studio, and I try my best to make sure anyone can come in and try out these sorts of projects. I’m all about spreading the fun and spreading the joy.”
Wendy is the owner of Kil’n It Pottery Studio and Tipsy Paint Brush. She studied at Parsons School of Design in New York City and was a graphic designer for 40 years.
“We cater to beginners or experienced artists,” said Wendy. “Both are welcomed in our studio, and we believe everyone has artistic abilities. They just need a place to find them.” She went on to say, “We’re a family business, and we wanted to provide a space that was affordable for everyone to paint or create pottery. We’re for anybody who wants to try it out.”
Enfield resident Julie Cotnoir heard about Kil’n It Pottery Studio & Tipsy Paint Brush on social media. She and her mother did a paint and sip night a couple of years ago and cherished celebrating her mother’s birthday with a gift of painting. “I love seeing their social media posts and how all ages can have fun together,” Cotnoir replied. “It’s a great way for family and friends to make special memories and have a keepsake of their time together.”
Before opening the studio, Wendy was operating Tipsy Paint Brush on a traveling basis for 10 years at different restaurants, halls, bars and homes from Springfield to Hartford and the surrounding areas. It grew to be one of the largest paint party businesses traveling in the Pioneer Valley and she gained a large customer base on Facebook. Wendy grew Tipsy Paint Brush to the point where she wanted to leave her full-time corporate career as a senior graphic designer and open her own art studio along with her daughter, the potter.
Melanie was working at a pottery studio at the time and worked there for eight years and became the manager. This made for the perfect opportunity for mother and daughter as Wendy wanted to join forces with her and open a studio with painting and pottery.
“Melanie is my carbon copy,” Wendy happily said. “She is my mini me through and through. We work amazingly together. We didn’t know of another art studio that offers both pottery and painting in one location. I knew it would be a hit.”
Melanie added, “We both always had long-term goals of doing something like this, so it felt like a dream that it finally happened. This has brought us closer together and our relationship stronger. In some situations, people would say it’s hard to work with your family, but I think this just gives us more opportunities to spend time together in our adult lives.”
Kil’n It Pottery Studio & Tipsy Paint Brush opened in November of 2019. After being open for four months, they had to close due to the pandemic. During quarantine, Wendy and Melanie sold kits to-go, as well as doing deliveries within Enfield and offering curbside pickup. They featured kits for painting ceramic, painting canvas and painting glassware for people to have activities at home during the shutdown.
“Those kits were flying out the door and that kept us afloat until we were able to open in June,” Wendy said. “When we opened the studio again, it slowly filled up and then we were packed. It fulfills my heart to see other people get creative and fall in love with what they have created.”
In the past seven years, Kil’n It Pottery Studio & Tipsy Paint Brush went from a staff of three to a staff of 12. They now have three to four classes a day when they used to have just one. They’ve purchased a second kil’n to keep up with all of the pottery. And they’ve also added more classes on the weekends, doing two pottery wheel workshops a day. It has become the creative outlet for the community in Enfield and surrounding towns.
People from New York, Boston, Rhode Island and New Hampshire have come to find their own art therapy. Melanie said, “I feel that we immediately got a great response from the community really needing something like this and we’ve only grown since then.” She continued, “We started so small, just me and my mother running this place. Now, we have a large staff and we’re able to give a lot of good job opportunities to young artists in the area as well.”
Overall, Melanie hopes her experience truly continues to express her passion for the community and helping others. With the new year, she and Wendy are always thinking of fresh ways of bringing art to children and folks discovering something new about themselves every time they come.
Kil’n It Pottery Studio & Tipsy Paint Brush are open Tuesday through Friday from 12-8 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They are closed on Mondays, with the exception of certain holidays. Go online at kilnitpotterystudio.com and tipsypaintbrushparties.com to sign up for classes & workshops.
You can walk into their studio to paint ceramics as well.
Kil’n It Pottery & Tipsy Paint Brush offer private parties for large or small groups. More information is on their website. Private parties to paint ceramics can be booked right on the website. Paint parties range from $35 to $42. Pottery workshops range from $55 to $65 and include a second visit to paint the pottery that you create.
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