A Guide to the Best of Southern California : SHOPTALK : Pottering About

When Robin Monroe couldn’t find a bowl that fit into her parrot’s cage, she took a pottery class and made one herself. Then came a brainstorm: Why not set up a studio where people could paint and glaze pottery any way they liked? Voila .

Monroe and husband Josh Culver opened Color Me Mine just this month, offering about 150 types of functional and decorative pottery--from vases to mugs to light-switch plates--that can be decorated with 85 kinds of paints, decals, stencils and glazes.

Prices for the pottery range from $1 to $30; technique classes are $25. Those who want to strike out on their own can study a workbook and video, then rent supplies.

Even the artistically deprived needn’t be shy, says Monroe: “When you have a glazed finish on something, it tends to look very professional, even if you just paint a dot.” Color Me Mine, 633 N. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles; (213) 965-0900.