The Paint Pub

I signed up for a paint session with a group of my coworkers. A few of us had Groupons and coupons. I shared a coupon with a friend which was buy one, get one half off, so it ended up being $30 each (regular price $40 because we went on a Friday night). I was a little unsure of this place because the lady who set up my appointment seemed to be a little confused. She could not figure out what group I was under and then I was trying to explain that I would be sharing a coupon with another person, etc. It was pretty awkward. I was also unsure of this whole experience because I am not even remotely artistic. I can't even doodle to save my life.

We were one of the first ones to arrive, and I immediately noticed their bar and boutique area. They have clothes and paintings for sale. They serve wine and beer and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had craft beer options like Saint Arnold's and Karbach. Some of my coworkers ordered bottles of wine. I had a Saint Arnold's Lawnmower. They let you start a tab too which is convenient. I think the Saint Arnolds was $3 which is super cheap! While we were painting, one of the employees walked around to take drink orders so that was cool. You do get a break, but I was too scared to leave my area because I didn't want to miss the next step of the painting process.

The setup is simple. There are a few tables lined up with easels and stools. They have plenty of aprons for everyone. Our session was pretty crowded. If I had to guess, each table can seat 10-12 people and there were at least three tables that were full. The teacher has a little stage area and she wears a microphone so it's easy to hear the instructions. There's also a projector in case you're sitting in the back and can't see the instructor's canvas up close.

There's a nice variety of music playing in the background on an ipod and they are okay with you getting up and shaking your groove thing. Before the painting started, everyone was instructed to grab paint on their pallet. We did a quick toast and then we started painting.

The instructor was nice and friendly and explained each step well. The best comparison of the process is a "paint by numbers." She told us which brush to use, if we should mix the paint colors, or add water to the paint, and of course how to create our "masterpieces." The painting we did was called Misty Forest. You can look at the paintings online and they show you which painting you will be doing on the calendar, so that's great. If you're not a flower person, no problem. Just make sure not to sign up for a session where the painting is a huge garland of flowers! Anyway if you can follow directions, then you can paint. The canvas they give you is about 16x 20 (totally guessing here) and there's an unlimited amount of paint that you can use (you will have to get more paint throughout the session).

At first I was really uptight about making the perfect painting, but then I started enjoying my beer and enjoying the relaxing feeling of painting. It was fun and my painting didn't turn out that bad. This is great place to go with a group. They do have the option of booking private events. I would like to come back here soon and create another "masterpiece."

Definitely a fan. It's a great way to spend an evening. Completely hilarious to go paint with a bunch of engineers and see what they produced. A little pricey but it was fun.  Hope that they continue to engage the painters well (and a little slower!) and develop even more good, varied picture options.