Mama Trizza’s offers artists venue for works

By Rhonda Clark World Staff Writer
1/3/2007

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 or Contact Mama