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The Bent Brush staff members Paulette and Jenny with Owners Dania Smith and Nate Smith. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
We all have creativity and passion inside us. A small business in Cape Coral is helping customers showcase their creative side and bring together the community to share laughs and design through the art of pottery.\n<\/p>\n
For co-owners of the Bent Brush, husband and wife duo Nate and Dania Smith, opening a pottery studio was not something they had deliberately planned when moving to Florida from Colorado almost ten years ago.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had been wanting to move to Florida for several years, and just our current careers just weren\u2019t lining up, and just decided to throw caution to the wind and do something totally different and reinvent our lives,\u201d Dania said.\n<\/p>\n
When Dania was struggling to find a job in Florida, it was her mother who suggested opening a pottery studio because she knew she painted pottery as a hobby.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of looked at her like she had two heads, and she\u2019s like, \u2018I believe in you. I think you could do this,\u2019\u201d Dania said.\n<\/p>\n
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Views of customers inside The Bent Brush painting glaze on their pottery pieces. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
The Smiths knew they wanted to live and operate their business somewhere coastal. When they found Cape Coral, they said it just \u201cfelt right.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re very much drawn to the water and enjoy boating and beaching and all the water stuff and sunshine,\u201d Dania said. \u201cWinters were just a little bit uncomfortable, my husband had a back injury, and the cold really got to him. So, we needed to get away from the cold.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
The Bent Brush opened its doors in 2018, a time when a lot was uncertain in Florida and the world.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cHurricane Irma hit right after we signed the lease on our space, and we ran into contractor problems and delays, and ended up taking a lot of the build out upon ourselves,\u201d Dania said.\n<\/p>\n
They remained resilient in other uncertainties they went on to face as a business. Through the pandemic and Hurricane Ian, their loyal customers showed up for them and made sure they stayed open.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThough business was slow when we reopened, our core customers they came in and they showed up in force and supported us and never let us go,\u201d Nate said. \u201cThey just simply would not allow us to close. They wouldn\u2019t allow us to fail.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Every day, both Nate and Dania are truly grateful for everyone who walks through their studio doors. They do this for the people, as another reason they moved to Cape Coral was for the community. They pride themselves on their customer service and being able to help customers feel comfortable, whatever their art skill.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I was ever arrogant enough to assume a great success, but I certainly always hoped that we would reach people with what we have and what we offer, and we definitely have,\u201d Nate said.\n<\/p>\n
All age groups are welcome. From infants doing handprints or footprints on dishes to 90-year-old birthday parties, there\u2019s something for everyone. The most common age group they see come in the studio are families, followed by teenagers and young adults and then retirees.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to give something back to the community that families can come together,\u201d Dania said. \u201cThey\u2019re actively engaging with each other. They\u2019re talking. Not everybody\u2019s on their phones ignoring each other, and it\u2019s a really great thing to see on a communication and connection level.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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Views of the many completed ceramic pottery pieces inside The Bent Brush, waiting to be picked up. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
Two friends, 20-year-old Bella Turner and 22-year-old Camila Azize, visited the Bent Brush for the first time on Aug. 26. They are both servers at Tap 42 in Belltower and agree that this is a nice break from their hectic lives.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of nice to just do something without having to be on our phones all the time,\u201d Azize said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very relaxing environment.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
They discovered the studio while browsing fun things to do in the area on the internet. Turner used to paint pottery a lot in high school and thought it would be a fun activity to try out again. They both plan on coming back in the future.\n<\/p>\n
Becky Vial and Kalyne Hampton are friends in the older crowd, both 63. They were also there that day. It was only their second time coming into the studio, but they knew they would be back.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it because it\u2019s low-key, you don\u2019t have a lot of noise going on, you can just sit here and just get lost in what you\u2019re doing,\u201d Hampton said. \u201cIt\u2019s worth it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
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The Bent Brush\u2019s ceramic studio welcomes visitors of all ages to try out creating and designing their own pottery. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
The Bent Brush offers more than just pottery painting and classes. Along with the pre-made ceramics shipped from Thailand, Vietnam, Italy and China, customers can also mold their own clay shapes and sculptures and put together mosaics.\n<\/p>\n
Materials are ordered at least twice a month, including seasonal holiday shipments if applicable. Currently, Halloween options are available to paint and Christmas shipments will be coming in soon, though Christmas tree ceramics stay all year round. Pricing for ceramics painting ranges from around $20-$90 depending on the piece chosen.\n<\/p>\n
Hampton and Vial were intrigued by the clay sculpting which caused them to come in the first time. Though they ended up painting instead, they will be back for clay sculpting classes.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody loves the vibe that we have in the studio. We\u2019ve had several customers say that this is their therapy,\u201d Dania said.\n<\/p>\n
Customers recognize the way the Smiths interact with them, and it contributes to their overall experience in the studio and willingness to come back.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so welcoming, I didn\u2019t feel uncomfortable or awkward,\u201d Azize said.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re really nice here, they will show you how to do everything, get everything you need, do your own thing,\u201d Vial said. \u201cThey\u2019re very knowledgeable.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Since families are their biggest demographic, it\u2019s busiest whenever children are out of school, like weekends and the summer. But with their loyal customer base, there are people in the studio every day.\n<\/p>\n
\u201c(We are) continuing to keep that customer base growing and reaching new people,\u201d Nate said.\n<\/p>\n
One of the ways they constantly do that is by their yearly nominations in the Best of Cape Coral awards, which they have won for seven years, every year the business has been open. This year, The Bent Brush is nominated in three categories: pottery classes, DIY art and studio. They are hoping for their eighth straight win this year.\n<\/p>\n
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Customers can pull up a chair and create inside The Bent Brush\u2019s ceramic studio. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely still exciting because it\u2019s just testament that we\u2019re still offering the same level of service that we always have,\u201d Nate said. \u201cWe\u2019ve never backed down. We\u2019ve never taken for granted what we have or the customer base that we have.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
If interested in supporting the Bent Brush or other local family-owned businesses, voting is open now through Sept. 2 on the Cape Coral Breeze website\u2019s homepage.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually kind of cool because it\u2019s just Cape Coral businesses, and they all have to be mom-and-pop owned,\u201d Nate said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of them to choose from, and there\u2019s some that definitely deserve the support, and it\u2019s a great way to acknowledge those businesses that you may have worked with before, and kind of give them that extra nudge.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
With a large studio space and a variety of products to choose from, The Bent Brush plans to continue adding new ways to engage customers of all ages, presenting itself as a fun and comfortable way to spend a day.\n<\/p>\n
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Customers have various options of pottery pieces to paint and design at The Bent Brush. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/ FLORIDA WEEKLY<\/p>\n
In The KNOW:<\/p>\n
WHO: The Bent Brush
WHEN: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday-Thursday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
WHERE: 1625 SE 47th Terrace, Unit 4, Cape Coral
MORE INFO: thebentbrush.com<\/a> or 239-984-5041<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bent Brush staff members Paulette and Jenny with Owners Dania Smith and Nate Smith. -LARISSA RODRIGUEZ \/…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210],"class_list":["post-383323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}