CT art workshop found a new home. It signs up students daily

Create Escape Studio, an art workshop and venue in New Milford, recently relocated to a prominent spot on Route 7, and is welcoming new students every day.

The studio operated out of the Bleachery, also in New Milford, for five years. Before that, owner Robin Dann ran the studio on Great Plain Road in Danbury.

The Bleachery, which houses a variety of businesses in its buildings on the Housatonic River, just didn’t provide the exposure Dann wanted.

Robin Dann, owner of Create Escape studio in New Milford, offers many ways for people to “get creative” using pottery, glass, paint and other mediums. The studio, formerly located in the Bleachery in New Milford, is now on Route 7 in front of
Candlewood Golf Course in a building shared by Coldwell Banker Real Estate. (Emily M. Olson/)

“We were looking for a new place, and this has worked out very well for us,” she said, during an interview in the studio. “We played a game of Tetris to fit everything in here, because we went from 1,700 to 1,200 square feet. We’ve had to make some adjustments, but we’re very happy here.”

The space, with rear windows that face the golf course and let in plenty of light, was formerly a yoga studio.

Dann said that since she opened in June, public interest has been steady.

“People come in and say, ‘I’ve been driving by and looking at the sign, and I wanted to see what was in here.’ Previous customers followed us, including people from Danbury.”

Dann, a retired graphic designer, and her daughters Heather Dann and Lauren Miller work at the studio, along with Maureen Molinaro, senior staff artist. Together, the women teach creative arts to their customers.

Molinaro, who has worked with Dann since the Bleachery days, left a corporate job to take care of family. Like Dann, she decided she wanted something different, and joined Create Escape in 2018.

She loves the studio’s new home.

“It’s a gem. The golf course, the space, the lighting … it’s just wonderful,” she said. “Our other spaces were great, if you could find us. We couldn’t win, getting people to come down West Street (to the Bleachery) so we had to make a change.”

Molinaro leads glass painting classes, and recently was preparing to lead a bachelorette party of about 8 women.

“We do quite a few of those, people are always looking for something different to do,” Molinaro said. “Glass painting is primarily what I teach, so I’m looking forward to being there.”

She said the studio gives people a creative outlet, helping them discover skills they may not know they have.

“What’s important, I feel, is to make every project approachable,” Molinaro said. “When you come in and see our samples, it’s something you can make yourself and not be intimidated.

“I talk to people and show them how to cut a piece of glass, how to slice it, and they see how easy and fun it is,” she added. “We have a lot of regulars who have been coming for years, and I’ve watched them get better and better.”

The spacious studio offers tables for two, four or more, where the students who have signed up in advance or just dropped in for a session can do their work individually or as a group.

While the studio seeks a new pottery instructor using the wheel, students can work with clay by hand, making things like “pinch pot pumpkins” pots and sculpture.

“Hand-building can be a lot of fun,” said Dann.

The studio provides large and small premade ceramics, from coffee mugs and trivets to vases, bowls and plates, animals and other shapes. Individuals and groups choose a piece and paint it, making gifts and keepsakes for family and friends.

Once a piece is painted, it’s fired in the studio kiln. Students can pick up their work about a week after they make it.

Art projects using colored glass is a popular method that more and more people enjoy, said Dann. Students can make mosaics, using pre-cut shapes of wood and gluing pieces of glass to the surface, making everything from decorative mirrors and picture frames to unicorns and owls.

Fused glass, used to make sculptures, sun catchers, plates and other pieces are another art method that is quite popular, Dann said. Pieces are fired in the kiln before going home with the artist.

“Fused glass art is wonderful,” said Dann. “You’re working with flat pieces of glass, and you have a little more creative freedom. You are instructed on how to cut the glass and methods that work well for fusion art. We’ve made butterflies, coasters, plates, sun-catchers …”

The studio also has stencils and silk-screening for lettering and other smaller details. At the entrance, collections of completed projects are always on display, intended to inspire people when they walk through the door.

Create Escape also participates in many classes on- and off-site. Dann and her staff have led corporate team-building events, visited day care centers for art activities, and hosts birthday parties and showers of all kinds.

“For the children’s parties, I think the parents like it because they can bring the cake or pizza or whatever they want to have, and we do the rest,” said Dann. “We lead the activity; we do the cleanup. The kids love it.

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“At a shower, nobody wants to sit and open presents with everybody watching anymore,” she said. “This way you can spend time together and take something home.”

The studio’s calendar is already filling up for the fall and winter seasons. Along with daily and weekly classes, Create Escape stays open until 9 p.m. on Fridays, for “date nights” and drop-in students.

“My staff members are really into it,” she said of one theme, noting “getting vintage teacups and saucers and there will be costumes.”

“As soon as those events are over, we’re in full Halloween and Christmas mode,” she said. “We’ll redecorate the studio, and the Halloween and Christmas classes start at the end of September.”

The classes offered include lots of pottery painting, mosaics and canvas designs, as well as painting.

“Paint your own is very popular,” Dann said. “People also love making mosaics; you can come in and make something and take it home that day or pick it up later. It’s a chance for people to come in and work at their own pace, with instructors or on their own.”

Dann worked as a graphic artist for more than 20 years, and found her next career when she opened Create Escape. She still has some clients, but is fully devoted to her studio.

“I was ready to do something different. This is fun,” she said. “It gives me the interaction that I crave, and it’s enjoyable. There’s a lot of variety in what we do.”

Create Escape is located at 375-A Danbury Rd./Route 7 in New Milford. Find them on Facebook and Instagram, call 203-456-6196 or email createescapestudio@gmail.com.

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