Wine and Canvas = stellar combo

Wine and Canvas is one of the more fun events I've been to this year. Take a glass of wine — or, in my case, a Long Island Iced Tea on special — and plop down in front of a 16" x 20" canvas with several paintbrushes and blobs of paint on a paper plate. Led by a professional artist, such as JanettMarie, spend three hours painting a picture. A little buzz and hands smeared with acrylic paint? Heaven.

The event I attended met at Sahm's Tavern & Cafe (433 N. Capitol Avenue), which boasts a darned tasty bacon cheeseburger and great service. Wine and Canvas got its start in April and has hosted events all over Indy. Upcoming events are scheduled for Don Pablo's (3824 East 82nd Street), Chateau Thomas Winery (ooo, fitting) (8235 East 116th Street), and Muldoon's (111 West Main Street, Carmel). The group is opening their own studio next month near Keystone at the Crossing (86th and Keystone).

I'll admit that I was a little nervous when JanettMarie told us we'd be painting pears — I'd never painted any kind of fruit — but she walked the 10 or so participants through so smoothly that we all left with some pretty nice paintings, if I do say so myself. We marked off points on the canvas to make room for the three pears and saw our pieces of fruit develop from circles wearing little triangles as hats. I was skeptical but found that things worked out well. We all got lots of positive feedback, one-on-one attention, and suggestions for improvement... like when SOMEONE covered sections of her canvas in yellow instead of darker, shadow-producing colors and fell behind the rest of the group. I don't know who that was though. Ahem.

I'll definitely go to another Wine and Canvas event. The hosts were professional, friendly, accommodating, and encouraging. Interested persons can pick an event to attend based on pictures on the Wine and Canvas website calendar. The rest of the month will have folks painting florals and Halloween-themed pieces. Check www.wineandcanvas.com for more information; the schedule of events for November will be posted soon. Each event costs $35/person, which is a pretty great deal for three hours of attentive instruction by a professional artist, not to mention the inclusion of the art supplies and very necessary apron. Bring a few bucks for a drink (if you don't drink, it'll just be Canvas, but that's okay too) and have fun painting. Maybe I'll see you there.