Paint Party

Ok, so I know I said I'd write about this forever ago, but work has been crazy and Bailey seems to be wanting to ruin my life getting new teeth and therefore waking up SUPER early.  Plus there was a holiday weekend.  And, I'm lazy.  Ok?   Stop interrogating me!  

But anyway, a few weeks ago, I went to a "paint party" with my sweet friend Anna.  Unfortunately, my brand new iphone died on my way there, so I couldn't get any good pictures of the set-up, but we had a great time, and I'd definitely love to do it again.   

Here's how it worked:  First, we signed up here a couple months in advance (apparently these classes fill up fast) by clicking on the painting we wanted on the date we wanted.  We paid through the website (it cost $40 - which is not bad considering you get to bring home an original art piece).  We actually missed our first planned class, as there were some serious storms and tornados in and around Memphis that night, but the teacher was nice enough to schedule a whole new class for us.  

Then, we showed up for class with wine and a snack (I brought a sushi roll - but next time I may not bring any food, as I basically slammed down the sushi roll while chatting with Anna before everything started, and I would not have had time to eat it otherwise) (but wine is a must - especially for the people who were sitting next to us, at least 2 of whom professed to have drank an entire bottle of wine during the approximately 2.5 hour class - which even beat me, so that's impressive.  Also, they provide wine tools, so you don't have to get the twist off kind, which I did anyway, just in case - better to be prepared than not be able to drink wine).   

Then, when you get there, you take a seat in front of a canvas that is already set up with brushes and a plate of the needed paint colors in front of you.  You can also get extra paint from the front of the room if you run out.  

After that, you just follow your teacher's instructions. Our girl was great, she gave us tips and mentioned several different ways to personalize the picture.  I did get a little bit behind at a couple different points, as I went all perfectionist with certain parts, but overall the speed was pretty good.  

I even think the painting came out pretty well, at least for me, as I'm lucky to paint (or draw) a straight line and usually end up throwing away any creative-type thing I try to do because I get all embarrassed and hate it (but, strangely, I have recurring dreams where I design really cute clothes that I would actually wear, and have never seen before.  Even though I'm definitely not an artist, and I'm not even a big shopper.  What does that mean?  Please discuss.)

So - here is the picture of me and Anna with our masterpieces taken by our teacher since I'm an idiot (our painting was called Delta Nights - I love it!): 

How cute is Anna's picture?  I was so jealous of her awesome sky and cool brown in her church trail (which you can't really see in the picture, but trust me, it looks great!).  Also, she definitely mastered the "framing" much better than I did.  I actually painted over my entire "frame" and repainted it because it was so terrible - not that it improved at all the second time around.  Oh well. 

And here is my masterpiece hanging in our apartment:

So fun! I think they have these classes in various places - I know the Sips n' Strokes classes are similar and available in Nashville and Knoxville, as well as all the other places listed on the website (and Scott's mom, who is a great artist, is a teacher in Knoxville, so I KNOW that class will be great!)  Y'all should definitely go - I highly recommend it.