Artists find home for unique at Mama Trizza's
By AMANDA
FITE World Staff Writer
11/28/01
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  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 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 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.
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