I’ve attended at least 30 “paint nites” – where you pay a fee, go to a restaurant or bar and complete a painting as an artist walks you through the steps. This was a regular activity of mine, once a month for a few years… until a work conflict came about. I miss the camaraderie and being creative on a regular basis. But now that I’m selling work at the collective, what if I hosted my own paint nite??

Thanks to Amazon and Blicks, acquiring the supplies was a piece of cake. More difficult:  I had to create a painting that 1) others would be interested in re-creating and 2) could be completed in less than 2 hours by a beginner. And since Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, I experimented with a few spooky themes for this project, and came up with this one.

My first-ever paint nite as a host was held on October 20 to a class of five (our max attendance could be 10). What a success! I think we nailed all the important points: everyone had fun, we completed the painting within 2 hours, and the paintings were beautiful! Considering 3 of the students hadn’t previously painted this type of project, I was especially proud of our group.

Added bonus: the original “Spooky” painting sold at the shop!

I’m looking forward to a winter-themed paint nite, to be hosted the second week of December. More to come!