Painting parties have been very popular this past year. They tend to be 2-3 hour early evening gatherings, attended mostly by women of a certain age. The events combine "instant art" with wine or beer, snacks, and laughter. An instructor, who is very much like a kindergarten teacher with an edge, leads the participants through how to mix acrylic paints on a paper plate palette, and tells you where and how to paint a scene that she paints along with the group. At the end of a couple of hours, everyone takes home their fully dried 16" x 20" canvas. Each person's painting is unique, and looking at them all together is really fun.
I have been to two of these parties in the past two months. Both were fundraisers, so they were larger in number (35 at the first one, and 45 at the event last night) and the instructor used a little microphone to give instructions, with music piped in when she wasn't talking. It seems like this would be more fun in a smaller, private party setting - although I suspect there would be more sipping and more painting "issues"in the smaller setting.
These are my two paintings. I think in the future I might like to paint something more whimsical and quirky. Whimsy seems to fit my art abilities. Having never done any real painting before, and actually very little art in my entire life, I have to say, it is a great deal of fun! Matisse I am not, but I may just put these in my office as a reminder that we all have creativity inside us just wanting to get out. Let it out. (Although, in a public setting, I might better stick to music.)
