Buy Your Pottery From the Potter Who Threw It at These 7 Florida Studios

A mug feels different when you know whose hands pulled it up off the wheel. Florida is full of small clay studios where the person selling you a bowl is the same person who trimmed its foot and mixed the glaze that went on it.

Some sit on quiet residential streets, others behind storefronts you would drive past a hundred times without looking twice. Here are seven places across the state where the shelf and the wheel are in the same room.

1. Holley Hill Pottery

Wood smoke and stoneware go together in a way that gas kilns can only imitate, and along the Florida Panhandle there is a workshop built around exactly that. Holley Hill Pottery fires in a gas kiln plus two large wood-fired kilns, which is why the surfaces here carry those unpredictable flashes of ash and flame.

Two generations of potters throw the work on wheels inside the shop. That continuity shows up in the range on the shelves: platters, vases, mugs and serving pieces, many of them marine themed, in colors chosen to sit comfortably in a coastal home.

Because pieces come out of a wood kiln rather than a mold, no two match exactly. One-of-a-kind items turn up regularly, and special orders are part of how the business operates, so a specific size or glaze can be requested.

Find it at 7507 Buckeye Drive in Navarre. Doors open Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM, with Sunday closed.

Everything happens on site, so plan to carry your purchase out yourself rather than waiting on a delivery.

2. Jensen Pottery on Aviles Street

Aviles Street is the oldest street in St. Augustine, narrow and shaded, and about halfway down it sits a small pottery shop with a local artist working on site. Jensen Pottery keeps the studio and the sales floor in the same modest footprint, which means the maker is usually right there while you browse.

What fills the shelves splits neatly into two camps. Functional ware, the kind that goes into a cabinet and gets used every morning, sits alongside sculptural art pieces meant purely for looking at.

For anyone hunting a souvenir with more staying power than a fridge magnet, a handmade cup from a working St. Augustine studio does the job. The atmosphere is unhurried, the shop is small, and nobody rushes you through it.

The address is 11F Aviles Street, an easy walk from the rest of the historic district. Hours run 10 AM to 5 PM Monday, then Wednesday through Sunday, with Tuesday closed.

There is no cafe attached, so grab coffee elsewhere and wander in afterward.

3. Sugar Cream Clay in St. Petersburg

Bright paint, funky decor, and a wheel spinning within arm’s reach of the retail shelves. Sugar Cream Clay operates in the Grand Central District of St. Petersburg, and the space leans cheerful rather than austere, which is a deliberate choice for a studio built around teaching newcomers.

Private wheel throwing lessons are the core offering here, booked for individuals, couples and groups of all sizes. Birthday parties, work outings and family gatherings all get run through the same hands-on format.

Alongside the classes, handmade functional ceramics by owner and artist Allie Case are sold in store. Buying one means buying from the person who threw it, glazed it and loaded it into the kiln, which is the whole point of showing up in person instead of clicking a cart.

The studio welcomes kids and is LGBTQ+ friendly. Doors are at 2939 Central Avenue, open Wednesday through Friday from noon to 6 PM and weekends from noon to 5 PM, with Monday and Tuesday closed.

Weekend afternoons fill fastest, so book a lesson ahead.

4. Studio TM Ceramics

Serious equipment changes what a studio can do. Studio T/M Pottery and Clay in Gainesville runs wheels, a deep supply of studio glazes and kiln firing services, which draws experienced throwers as readily as first-timers who have never centered a lump of clay.

The gallery wall is where shoppers should aim. Functional work made by the studio’s own instructors and artists hangs and sits there, mugs and bowls built to be used rather than admired from a distance.

Programming stretches wide: classes for all ages and skill levels, studio memberships, one-day workshops, private lessons and parties, team-building sessions, and kids’ camps at intervals through the year. Seasonal family activities rotate in, and weekend sip n’ spins fill the evening slots.

Practical notes worth having. The studio is at 1854 NE 2nd Street A, with free on-site parking, a gender-neutral restroom, and a stated welcome to LGBTQ+ and transgender guests.

Hours run Tuesday through Friday 9 AM to 9 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 9 PM, Sunday 11 AM to 7 PM, closed Monday. Weekday mornings are the calmest windows.

5. Yada Yada Pottery in Mount Dora

Most clay studios pick a lane. Yada Yada Pottery in Mount Dora refuses to, and the result is a building where a shopper, a painter and a wheel student can all be busy at once without getting in each other’s way.

Handmade pottery is sold up front as part of an arts boutique that carries work across all kinds of mediums. Past that, there is a room of premade pieces waiting to be glazed, the wheel room, and a working space holding the kiln and press.

Instruction covers both wheel throwing and hand building, taught in an atmosphere that suits absolute beginners and long-practicing makers equally. A separate room is given over to textile art classes, including knitting, crochet, sewing and macrame.

There is a little cafe on site too.

Central Florida travelers will find it at 133 W 5th Avenue, with free lot and street parking nearby. Open Monday and Wednesday through Friday 11 AM to 8 PM, Saturday until 6 PM, Sunday noon to 5 PM, closed Tuesday.

The studio is LGBTQ+ friendly with a gender-neutral restroom.

6. Floridian Ceramics, Tampa

Clean floors, organized tools, and a display of original pieces right at the front where you walk in. Floridian Ceramics sits on North Florida Avenue in Tampa and keeps its retail selection small and current, drawn from the functional work the studio is built around.

Teaching drives the schedule. Introductory wheel throwing classes, multi-week pottery workshops and private studio sessions are offered for beginners and intermediate students, all in small groups so instruction stays close to individual.

Technique gets real attention rather than a quick demo and a shrug. The focus lands on fundamentals, creativity, and making ceramics that hold up to actual use, which is a different goal than turning out a souvenir in ninety minutes.

Shopping and learning can be combined in one stop. Browse the pieces up front, sign up for a session, or do both in a single visit.

The address is 7110 N Florida Avenue, with a free on-site parking lot. Weekday hours run 9 AM to 4 PM, and weekends are shorter at 10 AM to 2 PM, so Saturday shoppers should aim for late morning.

7. Gumbo Limbo Pottery in South Florida

Evening slots are the giveaway. Gumbo Limbo Pottery in Kendall runs classes well past dinnertime on several days, which tells you this is a studio built for people fitting clay around a Miami work schedule rather than a weekend-only operation.

Three things share the space: a class program, a gallery, and the working studio itself. Locally made ceramic art is produced and sold on site, and custom orders can be arranged if what you want is not already on the shelf.

Instruction covers all ages and levels. Private one-time sessions move at whatever pace the student sets, which makes them a low-pressure entry point for anyone who finds the wheel intimidating, and a reasonable pick for small celebrations.

Buying here means the ceramic art leaving with you came out of the same room where the classes happen. That closeness between maker and buyer is the whole reason to drive out to a studio.

The address is 14291 SW 120th Street, Unit 101. Hours vary considerably by day, with split morning and evening blocks early in the week, full days Friday and Saturday, and Thursday closed.

Kids are welcome.