PRESS THE PLAY BUTTON TO SEE MAMA’S VIDEO THEN COME AND VISIT OUR STORE @ 15TH AND DELAWARE AND SEE OVER 50 ARTISANS WORK ON DISPLAY! SEE YOU THERE…

One of Dottie “Mama” Trizza’s handmade pot people sports an African violet for a hat. Leonard Trizza said they’ve shipped pot people across the country and often give them to local charity benefits.

Pottery shop offers handmade art creations from across the country
Few experiences can offer so much to delight the senses as a stroll through Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop. Copper fountains offer the soothing, melodic sound of water as stained glass windows sparkle in the sunlight, masks and mugs smile down knowingly and herb-rolled candles scent the air.

Here, the sun and moon blow flames, and pigs can fly.

In what was once the first Model A and Model T auto garage in Tulsa, this artfully decorated shop at 1448 S. Delaware Ave. brims with truly unique items collected from the hands of artists across the country.

“Everything in the store is handmade by artisans,” said Leonard Trizza, who owns the place along with his wife, Dottie “Mama” Trizza.

“Nothing is mass-manufactured,” he said, adding that few, if any, other Tulsa stores can say the same for their wares.

And Mama Trizza’s is pleasingly packed with artwork — so full that it’s probably impossible to see everything on just one walk through the shop. Leonard, who worked 38 years in the women’s clothing wholesale business, said that’s intentional.

“Look at the floors, ceiling and walls,” he advises new customers.

But Villiage People – Mama Online News Article – Oh Mama! an even better tip is to secure Leonard or Dottie as a personal tour guide.

That’s how you’ll learn the history and tidbits of each piece, like how the pig figurines are made by a prominent Norman, Okla., dentist enamored with the beasts. It’s how you hear the lifetime-guaranteed WonderPots are made in southeast Asia and adorn such local fixtures as The Ambassador Hotel and T2 at Brookside, as well as “lots and lots of yards.”

Twenty-seven artisans create works for Mama Trizza’s, and they include the widely known and acclaimed to the starving and no longer producing sort.

“We opened to feature artisans who didn’t have a place before,” Leonard said. “They have a home here.”

Among them is Rhonda Dixon, who creates the stained glass windows that often include “found” vases or pots so owners can add their own personal touch. She also makes stained glass dream-catchers that have the appearance of spider webs and are applied to driftwood, briar root and old farm tools.

Corazon Watkins is an artist recognized for her Philippine “village people” pottery, fired using the Raku process. Mama Trizza’s offers the figurines, bowls and masks, with crackling and textures produced by nature when the clay is dropped into a fire pit.

Pots by Richard Raudamacher feature the outlines of leaves applied and then allowed to burn away during the firing process.

The store also offers work by Carole Whitney, whose art is featured at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, Leonard said. Whitney’s prairie pots come filled with nearly extinct native grasses that she grows on her ranch, he said.

The Trizzas can also tell you about Jim Young, a Japan-trained artist who’s won the pottery award five years in a row at the Mills Farm in War Eagle, Ark. Young glazes and crafts the pots, while his wife,Leonard, owner of Mama Trizzas – Mama Online News Article – Oh Mama! a litigating attorney, carves scenes into them.

Mama Trizza’s is also alight with the shine from metal, fused glass and other delights, including works by Tulsa artists Nancy Calaway, Jack Chambers, Steve Dyer and the Trizzas themselves. Other artisans hail from Missouri, New Mexico and elsewhere.

“It’s sort of like a candy store,” said Leonard, “bringing pleasure to people.”

Leonard said Dottie, who was a surgical nurse for 18 years, makes the “pot people,” one of the store’s first offerings and now its lucky charm.

Stacked terra cotta pots create arms and legs, and the figures can be placed on almost anything. Leonard said he’s shipped pot people to customers from Kentucky to California and Texas to Michigan.

“We’ve donated a lot to charities,” added Leonard. “We never turn anyone away.”

The Trizzas have operated their shop 4.5 years, and they’ve run the Renaissance Cottage, a one-suite bed and breakfast, at their home a few blocks away for 3.5 years.

The pottery shop also offers layaway, as long as all items are paid for and picked up by 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

That’s when the Trizzas close their store for six weeks. They use the time to visit with artisans about what they’re making and what they’d like to make.

With them will undoubtedly be Clovis, the couple’s white poodle that can often be found lounging in a basket behind the shop’scounter.

Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 23.

On Christmas Eve, the store opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m., only opening again during the last week of January.

To contact Leonard or Dottie, call 743-7687 (SHE-POTS).

Amanda Fite, World staff writer, can be reached at 665-8093 or via e-mail at amanda.fite@tulsaworld.com.

At Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop, the “village people” pottery of Corazon Watkins is based on Filipino natives and fired using the Raku process.

Below: Leonard Trizza shows off two of the most popular items at Mama Trizza’s — handmade sun and moon sculptures that function as small oil-burning lamps.
Bottom: One of Dottie “Mama” Trizza’s handmade pot people sports an African violet for a hat.

At Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop, the eclectic mix of art blends with the shop’s unique atmosphere.

Customers, who step past the shop’s blue, green and red exterior, find not only handcrafted items made of clay, but also glass, metal and wood.

Leonard Krisman and his wife, Dottie Trizza, opened the shop on Mother’s Day 1997 at 1448 S. Delaware Ave. Krisman said 55 artisans from the Tulsa area and across the United States send pieces to the store.

“We made a decision when we opened up that we were going to support American artists,” Krisman said.

He said the prerequisite for artists is that they be willing to participate to see if their work is saleable.

“It’s a presentation of quality artists,” Krisman said of Mama Trizza’s. “We’re looking for something that makes it unique and different to go into someone’s home or be given as a gift.”

Nancy Calaway, a local artist who makes functional and earthy pottery pieces, works six days a month at the shop.

“When I came to the shop, I was hungry, to tell you the truth, like most artisans are,” said Calaway about when she approached Krisman to market her wares. “I brought in some flower pots, and he said, ‘Well, these are ugly.’”

She told him if the pots didn’t sell, she would take them back. Within a few days, Krisman called Calaway to see if she had anymore of those “ugly pots.”

“What some people don’t like, other people love,” Calaway said. “The art shop is not discriminatory.”

And that uniqueness, she said, attracts customers.

“It’s not commercial, and it’s small, eclectic and reminds me of Austin and Boulder,” Calaway said. “A lot of people come in and say it reminds them of Santa Fe.”

Krisman said he returned to Tulsa after 40 years in the ladies wholesale ready-to-wear business. He and his wife started Mama Trizza’s at the Tulsa Flea Market in 1996.

“It didn’t work there because we couldn’t expand,” Krisman said.

The couple found the Delaware location and convinced the owner to let them remodel the building, which was built in 1928 and originally used as a Model A and Model T garage. The shop later expanded from 700 to 1,400 square feet.

Krisman said a new association, Top of the Hill at 15th and Delaware, will help area businesses market themselves. Named after the area’s 1920s nickname, the organization will start with eight to 12 members.

Krisman said the best part about his business is the people.

“It’s interesting to watch people look at art,” he said. “The person that you think is going to fall in love with a good piece of pottery ends up buying a piece of metal in this store.”

Krisman and Trizza aren’t artists but have respect for the artisans who entrust Mama Trizza’s to present and sell their work.

“It makes me feel good to let an artist come in the store, let them become part of what we’ve done here, and see them grow,” Krisman said.

For more: Call 918-743-7687 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              918-743-7687      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 918-743-7687 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Contact Mama

At Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop, the “village people” pottery of Corazon Watkins is based on Filipino natives and fired using the Raku process.
Below: Leonard Trizza shows off two of the most popular items at Mama Trizza’s — handmade sun and moon sculptures that function as small oil-burning lamps.
Bottom: One of Dottie “Mama” Trizza’s handmade pot people sports an African violet for a hat.

Photos by AMANDA FITE / Tulsa World

Few experiences can offer so much to delight the senses as a stroll through Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop.

Copper fountains offer the soothing, melodic sound of water as stained glass windows sparkle in the sunlight, masks and mugs smile down knowingly and herb-rolled candles scent the air. Here, the sun and moon blow flames, and pigs can fly.

In what was once the first Model A and Model T auto garage in Tulsa, this artfully decorated shop at 1448 S. Delaware Ave. brims with truly unique items collected from the hands of artists across the country.

“Everything in the store is handmade by artisans,” said Leonard Trizza, who owns the place along with his wife, Dottie “Mama” Trizza.

“Nothing is mass-manufactured,” he said

And Mama Trizza’s is pleasingly packed with artwork — so full that it’s probably impossible to see everything on just one walk through the shop. Leonard, who worked 38 years in the women’s clothing wholesale business, said that’s intentional.

“Look at the floors, ceiling and walls,” he advises new customers.

But an even better tip is to secure Leonard or Dottie as a personal tour guide.

That’s how you’ll learn the history and tidbits of each piece, like how the pig Leonard, owner of Mama Trizzas – Mama Online News Article – Artists find home for unique at Mama Trizzas figurines are made by a prominent Norman dentist enamored with the beasts.

It’s how you hear the lifetime-guaranteed WonderPots are made in southeast Asia and adorn such local fixtures as The Ambassador Hotel and T2 at Brookside, as well as “lots and lots of yards.”

Twenty-seven artisans create works for Mama Trizza’s, and they include the widely known and acclaimed to the starving and no longer producing sort.

“We opened to feature artisans who didn’t have a place before,” Leonard said. “They have a home here.”

Among them is Rhonda Dixon, who creates the stained glass windows that often include “found” vases or pots so owners can add their own personal touch.

She also makes stained glass dream-catchers that have the appearance of spider webs and are applied to driftwood, briar root and old farm tools.

Corazon Watkins is an artist recognized for her Philippine “Village People” pottery, fired using the Raku process. Mama Trizza’s offers the figurines, bowls and masks, with crackling and textures produced by nature when the clay is dropped into a fire pit.

Pots by Richard Raudamacher feature the outlines of leaves applied and then allowed to burn away during the firing process.

The store also offers work by Carole Whitney, whose art is featured at the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Leonard said Whitney’s prairie pots come filled with nearly extinct native grasses that she grows on her ranch.

The Trizzas can also tell you about Jim Young, a Japan-trained artist who’s won the pottery award five years in a row at The Mill in War Eagle, Ark. Young glazes and crafts the pots, while his wife, a litigating attorney, carves scenes into them.

Mama Trizza’s is also alightPot Person – Mama Online News Article – Artists find home for unique at Mama Trizzas with the shine from metal, fused glass and other delights, including works by Tulsa artists Nancy Calaway, Jack Chambers, Steve Dyer and the Trizzas themselves. Other artisans hail from Missouri, New Mexico and elsewhere.

“It’s sort of like a candy store,” said Leonard, “bringing pleasure to people.”

Leonard said Dottie, who was a surgical nurse for 18 years, makes the “pot people,” one of the store’s first offerings and now their lucky charm. Stacked terracotta pots create arms and legs, and the figures can be placed on almost anything. Leonard said he’s shipped pot people to customers from Kentucky to California and Texas to Michigan.

“We’ve donated a lot to charities,” added Leonard. “We never turn anyone away.”

The Trizzas have operated their shop for nearly five years, and they’ve run the Renaissance Cottage, a one-suite bed and breakfast, at their home a few blocks away for nearly four.

The pottery shop also offers layaway, as long as all items are paid for and picked up by 2 p.m. on Christmas Eve. That’s when the Trizzas close their store for six weeks. They use the time to visit with artisans about what they’re making and what they’d like to make. With them will undoubtedly be Clovis, the couple’s white poodle that can often be found lounging in a basket behind the counter.

Mama Trizza’s Pottery Shop is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from noon to 6 p.m. on Dec. 23, the Sunday before Christmas. On Christmas Eve, the store opens at 10 a.m. and closes at 2 p.m.. It is to re-open the last week of January.

For more information, call 743-7687.

Amanda Fite, World staff writer, can be reached at 665-8093 or via e-mail at amanda.fite@tulsaworld.com.