ARTY WEEKEND PLAN: POTTERY PAINTING IN SUWON

(~1 HOUR TRAIN FROM SEOUL)

Doesn’t matter even if you are a beginner! 😀

Whether you are a good painter or not, even being unable to draw any impressive painting in your whole life as me, you still can experience this interesting artwork called pottery painting in South Korea!

I prefer handmade gifts over already made ones. Therefore, I always try to search for interesting handmade/ handicraft experiences in my free time to create something for myself or friends and family.

I used to dream of making my own cups, plates and bowls with my own designs but it is not easy since I am not a professional potter. Consequently, I had to pay quite more expensive prices to get my stuffs custom-made if needed. If you are in similar situation, or just simply want to try something new this weekend, you can check out this place!

The place is called Suwon Dojagi Gongbang (수원 도자기 공방). It is located in Suwon city, the neighbor city of Seoul.

You can easily get there by subway line 1 or buses to Suwon station, then transfer to another bus or taxi to get to the shop in 10 minutes from there. The store looks just like a coffee shop with vintage decoration. You can easily see a lot of pottery cups and dishes displayed on the shelves from the outside.

The price starts from 5.000won to 25.000won depending on which unglazed pottery item you choose to work on. There are unglazed cups, plates, spoons of various sizes and you only have to pay for the item to paint without any extra fee. I chose a medium size plate and my friend decided to get a cup, which were around 17,000 won in total.

The owner prepared a set of drawing tools including pencil for sketching the drawings and color brushes on the table. You can also order drinks such as coffee or tea to enjoy while practicing your artwork. At first, I thought it would be so harder to draw on a solid and hard surface than on paper. But it turned out to be very easy because you can easily control your drawings and it came out very smoothly. There was a sketch book for you to refer the designs, or you can just simply Google the image you like to have and copy it on your item.

At the end, after you finished your painting, the owner who is also a professional potter will help you to fix the glaze so that it would come out more vivid and beautiful. It takes 1 or 2 days to melt the glaze and seal your object, so you would have to sign up for your delivery address and pay for around 2.500won extra to have it sent to your place after.

The handmade pottery came out prettier than I imagined and I really loved it. It was one of the most meaningful presents I have given to my mom because I designed and drew it by myself ( you can check the process on my picture). If you want to try new experience or to make a special present for your loved one, definitely check this place out!

Address:경기도 수원시 장안구 조원동 866-5 (Suwon-si, Jangan-gu, Jowon-dong 866-5)
Phone number: 010-3603-4040 (You should call and reserve in advance because the shop would be busy on the weekend. The owner can speak very little English so maybe asking help from your Korean friend would not be a bad idea)
Blog (in Korean): https://blog.naver.com/parkja40500

You can also purchase complete pottery here with reasonable price! Let’s have an arty weekend 😉