by Ardeana Hamlin
of The Weekly Staff
BREWER — Art and craft is a way of life for Teresa Wong, who with her husband Steve Wong, operates the Creative Arts Center in Brewer. Her first venture into creativity came when she was three years old and her grandmother Irene Smith helped her paint a tiny ceramic sofa.
Her grandparents, Rodger and Irene Smith, opened Smith’s Ceramics, located at the corner of Main and Summer streets in Bangor, in 1955. Those were the years, she said, when everybody was interested in learning how to do ceramics.
As a result of being part of a family involved in the ceramics business, Wong attended many classes offered by color manufacturers throughout the United States to learn how to use their paints, glazes, underglazes and other products. As her skill grew, she often conducted seminars at Smith’s Ceramics to train ceramics shop owners how to use the products various manufacturers in the ceramics business used.
“I like all the ways you can make something — I like anything creative,” Wong said.
Eventually, after her grandparents passed away, Wong assumed operation of the ceramics business. Eventually, she moved the business to Brewer when the building in Bangor was demolished to make way for a highway construction project in the early 2000s, and gave it a new name.
“I really like being in Brewer,” Wong said. “I like that it’s a smaller community and that everyone knows me.”
Wong changed the business to suit the times. As public interest in classes in ceramics declined, she added fused glass, painting on canvas and many other classes to the offerings at the Creative Arts Center.
“It’s easy to forget how much fun creativity is, how fun it is to say, ‘Hey, I made this,’” Wong said.
One of Wong’s popular programs at the Creative Arts Center is called Social Artworking in which an individual, a group of friends or a family can choose a design and create a finished piece of artwork painted on a 16-inch by 20-inch canvas — in two or three hours, including drying time. Wong will supply step-by-step instruction, paint, patterns, the canvas, table-top easels, brushes, water basins and aprons. Individuals or groups have the option of going to the arts center or a location of their choice, in which case they would provide tables and chairs, refreshments, music and optional party decorations for a festive atmosphere. The cost is $30 per person in the studio or $40 person at a requested location. The cost per child at a children’s Social Artworking party is $25 per child.
It doesn’t matter how old you are, or if you have never painted before, Wong will share her expertise and encourage participants to follow their own creative impulses. “People often are surprised at what they can do,” Wong said.
For those who prefer working with clay, the pottery room at the Creative Arts Center is available to potters on a rental basis. For a fee of $30 per month, potters can use the pottery wheel and related tools whenever the center is open. Wong stocks various kinds of clay for sculpting and fashioning into bowls, plates, mugs and even “knitting bowls” fashioned with a spiral-shaped slit in its side. Drop a ball of yarn in the bowl, wind the yarn through the slit and knit without ever having the yarn get away from you.
Wong said she can teach the basics of pottery, but prefers working with surface art.
“I’m happier with brushes, sponges and glitter,” she said.
Yet, Wong still is very much involved with ceramics. The blueberry-decorated ceramicware sold at Rebecca’s in Bangor is manufactured at the Creative Arts Center, which is equipped with five ceramics kilns, and two glass kilns used for fused glass projects.
For those who enjoy creating things with their hands, and who want a social aspect to go along with it, the Creative Arts Center hosts a Ladies’ Night 6-9 p.m. Tuesdays. Along with crafting, it features a pot luck supper. Attendees don’t have to paint or do a ceramics project, Wong said. They can devote the time to UFOs — unfinished objects — or PHDs — projects half-done. Some attendees, she said, knit, crochet, spinning, do Zen doodling or other projects. The only cost is for whatever supplies attendees may use, such as paints, canvas, etc.
As a teacher, Wong said she wants people to tap into their individual creativity.
“I never colored within the lines,” she said.
The Creative Arts Center, 54 Wilson St., is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday; and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.
Although the arts center address is Wilson Street, one must turn right at the end of the Chamberlain Bridge onto North Main Street, then turn left onto Union Street, as if going to Getchell Ice Co., then turn left to to access the center and its parking area.
For information about the Creative Arts Center, go to https://www.facebook.com/creativeartscenterbrewerme, email wongiestev@aol.com or call 945-3969.