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 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, 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).