Connecting the pieces together

Connect, Inspire, Grow

Cayla Pothan creative is about building joy through mosaic to CONNECT the pieces together to form a community of colour, vibrancy, and new life. All original and individual designs, lovingly handmade using the finest materials that come together and INSPIRE others. My wish is to bring hope, facilitate experiences to support individual GROWTH, meaningful self-expression and awaken the creativity in the observer. Connect, Inspire, Grow. 

Workshops and Classes

Teaching mosaic, painting as well as various forms of art for me is about building a strong community of people connecting with themselves as well as others. Empowering people to unearth their inner creator and learn how to build tangible works to express a sense of pride in the original pieces they have made and inspire others to give things a go. 

Meet Cayla Pothan

Welcome to Cayla Pothan Creative. I’m excited to share this space of living fully with self-expression, joy, and purpose with you. I am the gallery director and owner of Tootsie Gallery Café in the beautiful Yass Valley, NSW, Australia. This oasis of artistic freedom has become a hotspot for individuals and groups seeking to explore what they’d like to create in the world and ensure their creations have impact. In it’s seventh year of trade, the gallery welcomes locals, visitors and groups to the space from Thursday to Sunday, workshops, functions and events. 

  • Continuing reading

    I’m a mother of three gorgeous teenagers, wife, mosaic and mural artist, qualified horticulturist, second dan blackbelt in karate, mentoring practitioner, bestselling author, local councillor, and dream chaser to name a few talents. My family and I share our home farm by the Yass River with a few sheep, cows, various rescue animals, a large pig, chooks, three dogs and cats. 


    As a creative child, I always loved to dream and explore. Art was my favourite subject at school, and I was often in trouble for drawing pictures in my maths book and creating fancy boarders in other exercise books that were not meant to be fancy.  Like many fellow creatives, I followed a sensible career and obtained an associate diploma in disability, horticulture qualification and learned the bookwork associated to run my husband’s concrete business to manage from home when our children were growing up. 


    A self-taught mosaic artist of twenty years, following my stepfather teaching me how to tile my laundry floor at the age of twenty-five, that quickly became a passion, creative obsession, and way for me explore making hard materials, soft.  Through the mediums of glass, ceramic as well as other materials, I practised, learned, and grew as an artist. This was the start of my self-expression in the world that was desired towards connection, to inspire myself as well as others, grow as an artist in what I was creating, how I wanted that to feel and look like and bring this to life. I create both in my home studio and at Tootsie Gallery and love having the opportunity to live an expressive life through my art practises and share this with others. 

The Creative Force

Permission to Unleash your Unique Creativity


Meet Cayla Pothan. Tootsie Gallery Cafe creator and business owner, mosaic artist, mosaic and creative expression teacher, author, black belt, horticulturist, community builder and mentor.


UNLEASH THE CREATIVE FORCE WITHIN


In this book you will;

  • Experience the freedom of your unique creative expression.
  • Understand where you don’t speak up, what that is costing you, and how to turn it around.
  • Remember the wisdom of your unique creativity and how to use it in making practical everyday decisions.
  • Acquire skills in prioritizing yourself and your needs.
  • Rediscover your own life force so that you jump out of bed in the morning!
  • Fall in love with what makes you different from others.
  • Solve the problem of feeling like you are stuck and have no choices.


Indulge in the intangible magic of creativity and gain understanding of how to use your unique Creative Force to make your mark in the world. It's time to get outside the box you feel trapped in and live a life of full expression while making an impact on those around you. Come on a journey into outer space because that's what it can feel like when your different from those around you right?Learn how to use creativity to solve everyday problems, uncover more of you and let go of other people's idea's and expectations. The Creative Force will help you overcome doubts and limiting beliefs so you can create a different, uniquely creative life. Join with author Cayla Pothan, on a journey within to create your life of choice and fulfillment. Creator of the award-winning Tootsie Gallery Cafe in Yass, NSW which won 2023 Most Vibrant Cafe, Southern Tablelands and 2024 Most Unique Casual Dining Venue in NSW in the Lux Life International Travel and Tourism Awards. Cayla walks her talk and her creative wisdom is embedded in everything she does.


PURCHASE PAPERBACK BOOK ⟩

PURCHASE EBOOK ⟩


Building in Bronze

Creating the future through healing the past.


Cayla Pothan's bestselling book Building in Bronze is a true and relatable story meant to inspire others to follow their dreams and turn them into reality. Her story helps readers create the future they want through healing their pasts.


Building in Bronze is an inspirational manifesto written by a woman who never stopped dreaming and working to make space in the world where she could live her most authentic life. Cayla Pothan created just such a space and, in the process, discovered how to share her insights with other people who long to live with joy and purpose. After a difficult journey from a childhood of feeling trapped in a victim mindset, she emerged into a life filled with creativity and growth, eventually founding the Tootsie Gallery. Tootsie is a symbol of the dreams and creativity in the life of the child.


As an artist, mentor, coach, gallery owner, and community builder, she reaches out to help others find purpose by getting in touch with the child within. Readers who may have lost sight of their own dreams, lacking purpose or creative outlets, will find inspiration to re-engage with their creative energies and the courage to chase those lovely dreams.


PURCHASE BOOK ⟩ 

Inspirational messages from Building in Bronze by Cayla Pothan


You can lose things like your home, your car, your partner, your job or your belongings. No one can take your dreams away.

You can use your dream as motivation to make better lifestyle choices that will support vou in the future.

Be a role model rather than always doing things for others. Teach and show others how to empower themselves and their choices.

Making a bronze life, just as in building a bronze statue, means going through sets of action steps and changes over time to create something new.

When we seek support from people who feel sorry for us, this enables us to stay in the victim's shoes- don't let this justify your pain.

Get in Touch

Call Cayla: 0447 225 524


Email: hello@tootsiegallerycafe.com.au 

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