The Painted Cabernet

{I'm posting every day this month for the 31 Days writing challenge!
Click here to see an introduction and a list of all the posts I've written so far.}

First things first: I am not an artist.  I can’t draw a flower to save my life, and I barely passed the Art 101 class I took in college thinking it would be an easy A.  But one thing I can do fairly well is follow directions.  (I also don’t suck at enjoying a glass of wine every once in awhile.)

So when I discovered the Painted Cabernet, I was pretty sure I would love it.

And then I turned out to actually be kind of addicted to it.

The Painted Cabernet is basically a two-hour class where you get to drink wine while an instructor shows you, step by step, how to create a masterpiece.  You just check their calendar, pick a painting that you want to do, and sign up for that date!  Then you show up, get a glass of wine (or beer, or a mimosa, or a soda!), grab your paint brushes, squirt some paint on your little cardboard canvas, and then...sit down and panic for a hot second.  

What did you just get yourself into?!  You’re not an artist!  How do they expect you to paint that amazing beach sunset?

But then the instructor gets up in front of the class and assures you that you CAN do it, because she’s about to break it down into super simple steps.  For example, the first step in several of the classes I’ve taken has been, “Paint the entire canvas this color.”  Like, literally you just slather paint all over the entire canvas.  Anyone can do that!  

And as you complete each step, the instructor will put on some fun music and go around to make sure everyone is comfortable and understands what they’re doing.  At the end of the class, you get to see how 40 different people interpreted the same painting with the same set of instructions, and that’s usually my favorite part!  I’ve seriously never seen a “bad” painting, and it’s great to see how different people’s personalities and styles affect their piece.  (You are also more than welcome to change up the color scheme or orientation of your painting, or even paint whatever your heart desires in that two hour span!  I’ve seen it happen: one guy did a free-hand painting of a dog when the rest of us were painting dandelions!)

Now, when I said earlier that I was addicted, maybe you thought I was exaggerating.  

Let me just prove it to you with Exhibits A through I:

(Click to enlarge)

And there’s at least two others I’ve done, but I gave them away and don’t have pictures of them handy.

So all I’m saying is: I’m kind of a professional amateur-painting-class-goer.

The Painted Cabernet is a fun outing with friends (and I even went alone once and still had a blast), and you go home with something lovely to put up on your wall and make people think you’re some kind of Van Gogh!  (They actually have a couple of Van Gogh paintings you can recreate, too!)