YOU may or may not know some of the processes involved with pottery painting, so this week I thought I’d give you a sneaky peek behind the scenes at Busy Brush – Wallingford’s well-loved craft cafe.

Have you or your children ever asked yourselves, ‘what actually happens to my pottery once I’ve painted it?

Well, as soon as you leave your table we collect your pottery and write descriptions of each of the pieces of pottery you and your group have painted.

We sand off unwanted mistakes, add writing if you asked for it or finish painting a footprint into a reindeer if that was your request. These items are then left to dry overnight.

The next day, they are individually dipped in glaze: the glaze is runny, so before we can place this item back on the shelf it has to be partially dry.

We spend time turning it upside down, round and round and the right way up again so the glaze covers all of the item with limited drip marks. Then it can be placed on the ‘glaze drying shelf’. Ideally this dries overnight, turning into a powdery white coating over the pottery.

To prepare the glazed pottery for the kiln, we make sure the now powdery dry white glazed items are smooth with no drip marks, and that the rimmed bases are clear of glaze and paint.

Then, with the help of props and stilts, all the items are placed carefully into the kiln, on three or four shelves like a big jigsaw puzzle: small flat Christmas hangers balancing on stilts, under propped plates and swinging baubles; mugs of various sizes and shapes standing with their clean rimmed bases and unicorns sitting side by side.

When the kiln is full, it’s turned on and reaches temperatures of 1200 degrees and the full cycle takes a whole 24 hours. The white powdery glaze melts and turns everything super glossy and brightly coloured, ready for teapots to pour tea and bowls to hold cereal.

When cool enough, the kiln is opened and it’s like Christmas for us, carefully picking out each of the now brightly coloured pottery pieces.

All the pottery is then matched using the detailed descriptions. Tea light holders are given their tea lights, money banks given their stoppers and even a penny inside for good luck.

So, now you know what we are so busy doing when you leave our quirky craft cafe.

Our last paint day for pottery to be glazed and fired to be ready for Christmas is Saturday December 16, with collection a week later on Saturday December 23.