Everyone is an Artist at Paint and Sip Class

Every month at PVE on a Saturday afternoon there is a class called Paint and Sip.

I have never painted but several ladies at dinner could not stop talking about how much they had enjoyed the class, so I decided to try it. When I arrived, I was immediately impressed with how organized the teacher was. Each place in the studio had a small easel with a canvas on it. There was a stack of paper plates to use as palettes and a bundle of paint brushes wrapped in a napkin tied with a ribbon. It felt good that they were taking such good care of the participants.

Jose, the teacher had a completed painting which he showed us and explained how we were going to paint the same scene but also make the painting individual to us. He explained that we would start with the background and then fill in the other elements. Meanwhile Alex and Adriana were taking wine orders and making sure everyone had the beverage they wanted.

The scene we were painting was of a koi fish and several lily pads in a pond. The perspective was looking down on the pond. Jose carefully placed blobs of several shades of blue and white paint on a paper plate palette at each station and we were off.

I found that I was able to concentrate on what I was doing but also chat with the people near me. This surprised me because I was a bit intimidated with the prospect of having to really concentrate to paint. From the start — filling in the blue of the pond — each painting was different. It was so fun to paint a bit and then walk around the room and see what others were painting. Everyone was engaged and also relaxed. I found myself really enjoying myself.

Pond filled in, now to the fish. Jose gave some brief instructions while filling a second palette with reds, oranges and yellows. The fish was a little more challenging, but it was fun to merge the colors and create your own marking on your fish. While similar, each fish was different.

Next, Jose gave some brief instructions on lily pad painting, and we found a third palette at our place with greens and browns. Everyone was starting to feel like a painter at this point and more remarks comparing painting were being exchanged around the room. Everyone was enjoying themselves.

Finally, our last step was creating ripples and bubbles with white paint small strokes on the water. This step was probably the most creative with large variations painting to painting.

We were just about done but there were two more details to work out. Some people felt very strongly that the fish should have eyes and others felt that the eyes would not be visible from the overhead perspective of the painting. It was interesting how strongly people felt about the eye issue. I was in the no-eye camp but did not feel strongly.

The other detail was whether or not to sign your painting. Jose strongly encouraged us to sign our creations. Then there was a discussion about initials versus full name. Everyone did what they wanted.

I really enjoyed myself and plan to go again.