“Art with a twist? Okay … sounds like fun. Go ahead and count me in.”
I had received a call from a friend to let me know that she and a few others wanted to reschedule a meeting because Lucinda Blair was working with Deb Peterson at Marvelous! to organize this “Art with a Twist” event, and I, of course, wanted to show my support. What a great way to spend an evening—visiting with friends, sipping wine, and perusing some of the lovely works done by our local artists. I’m all about that! The date went on my calendar … in ink!
When I arrived at Big Creek Golf & Country Club, I was directed to the area where the event was being held. There were rows of tables with easels, paint, brushes, paper towels, dishes of water, and canvases … BLANK canvases!
I was greeted by Lucinda and Deb. “Oh good! You’re here! Sit anywhere.”
Oh my goodness … I can’t draw a straight line! What am I doing here? I can’t draw a stick figure! And I’m wearing my office clothes! Last time I picked up a paint brush was over 40 years ago … Oh my … what have I gotten myself into now?
You know that “deer in the headlights” look? I was that deer! I smiled, looked around for friendly, familiar faces, found an empty seat, set my purse down, and found a glass of wine.
Jim Tindall was our instructor for the evening. In addition to his skills as an artist, Jim is quite a good (and I dare say, patient) teacher. With a completed painting as our inspiration, and a blank canvas of his own, he walked us through step by step. How amazing it was to watch real works of art develop on all those blank canvases … each one so different (as they are personal reflections) … yet each the same.
I thought that surely these people sitting around me must have been doing this for quite a while. After all! Look at these beautiful paintings! But no! Most of them, like I, had not touched a paint brush since we were school girls. Yet here we all were laughing and chatting and learning and creating and having the best time I had had in ages!
After a few sessions, we moved the classes into the new Marvelous! World Headquarters in Cotter. With a new venue, we acquired a new name—Paint and Sip. Most suitable!
We have had a few classes with Jeanie Roth now, another great local artist, and so much fun. Jeanie has such a totally laid back style. She helps us to create our own original works and focuses her teaching on guiding us to wherever we want our work to go.
I think of the paintings I’ve done with Jeanie as my “happy little paintings,” because they are! I understand we’ll be having different artists working with us over the coming months. That’s really exciting since we learn different styles and techniques from each artist we work with. Heck … we learn a lot from each other, too.
I am SO hooked! I can’t stand to miss an opportunity to get together with others to see what we will create next. We have different people show up each month, which keeps it fun. It always tickles me when people attending for the first time say, “I can’t even draw a straight line!” I just tell them, “That’s okay. Neither can anyone else here. Just relax and have fun with it. You’ll amaze yourself!” M! June/July 2015
Experience a Paint & Sip Mini yourself by clicking on the Mini ad at the top of the Home page. Grab a girlfriend or two and join us to laugh, catch up, and paint with a glass of wine!
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