Business Spotlight: Fire It Up! Customers express themselves at pottery studio

The tile-top table was truly one of a kind. Each tile contained a tiny handprint and the name of a student from a Nixa elementary school. The table, filled with colorful handprints that evoke special memories, will be given to the students' teacher at the end of the school year.

The custom-built, tile-top table is just one of the many personal gifts that painters have made at Fire It Up! pottery studio. Located in Nixa, the studio contains a wide variety of ready-to-paint bisque items including vases, gift boxes, figurines, plates, platters, mugs, pie dishes, piggy banks and seasonal items such as Christmas ornaments and Easter eggs.

Trish Morris, who co-owns the pottery studio with her husband Scott, first thought about opening a pottery studio while she was living in Kirkwood, just outside of St. Louis. Kirkwood has two large pottery studios, which the Morrises frequented when they were dating.

After the two married, they relocated to Nixa. The move was not only life-changing, it was career-changing as well. A former U.S. Swim coach, Trish Morris wanted to continue working with children and families.

"We talked it over and decided to open our own pottery studio," she said. "We did our research first, though. We decided Nixa was the place to open our business because it's a growing area with lots of young families."

Trish Morris works full-time at Fire It Up! while her husband Scott pulls double duty. On days and weekends, he works as a Realtor at Murney Associates. In the evenings, he serves as "firemaster," tending the kiln at the studio.

Since opening Fire It Up! in 1999, the Morrises have worked hard to build up a base of regular customers. To attract pottery students, they began hosting special events, such as wedding showers, scout outings, church functions, school field trips and corporate team-building parties for area businesses.

Some of these events are held in the studio's private party room. However, some clients prefer to rent out the entire studio.

In addition, Trish Morris often travels to area businesses, schools and churches where she provides on-site instruction on how to paint, stamp, stencil and transfer images onto bisque.

"Occasionally, someone will ask me to paint a special piece for them," Morris said. "Most of the time, though, people are interested in painting their own pottery. It's a great way to express yourself. The motto here is, Every-one's an artist.' The pottery studio itself is filled with a wide variety of colorful and interesting geometric shapes, which help stimulate creativity. This creativity can be seen in finished works of art, that line the shelves along the back wall.

One woman celebrated the birth of her first child by capturing the newborn's footprint on a piece of decorative ceramic tile. Then there's a festive tea set, hand-painted and inscribed by each member of a bride's wedding party.

"After someone has finished painting their piece, we'll take it, apply a glaze and fire it up' in the kiln at over 2,000 degrees," Morris said. "From start to finish, that process takes about three days. Every finished piece is food safe and dishwasher safe."

Currently, the Morrises are gearing up for a series of special events. Throughout the summer, Fire It Up! will host activities for Nixa Parks and Recreation's "Summer it Up" program and Tots Landing Daycare, and June 21 the studio will hold a mixer for the Nixa Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Morrises also plan to hold a "couple's night" each month complete with live music. They also will offer reduced studio fees every other Friday between the hours of 5 and 7 p.m.