Bar none: Class making art fun

Waiting on further instruction to add color and embellishment to her New Year's work of art, painter Clarissa Clark decided that one canvas simply wasn't enough. With a glass of red wine in one hand, she briskly used the other to dab paint on the face of her unsuspecting friend.

Across the room, a patron laughed about one over-eager painting experience, when she had accidentally dipped a paintbrush into her drinking glass.

Standing just a few feet from the bar, art teacher Jenna Stuart showed painters how to paint a realistic looking champagne flute. After instruction she walked around the booths, as painters devoured onion rings and fries, to give them a closer look at the detail.

While an art class at a bar might seem crazy, the painters and teachers at Bogey's Bar & Grill on Thursday evening wouldn't have it any other way.

"If you have a studio, it takes away from the night-out experience," said Kristina Pelly, owner of the Las Vegas Wine & Canvas franchise. "This isn't necessarily about artists or wine-drinkers. It's about women that want a night out. They may not be interested in either, but they are when they get here."

Wine and Canvas is a national business that hosts painting classes at varying bars/restaurants in a step-by-step fashion. For $35, painters are given a canvas, paint, brushes, and instruction by a trained art teacher during a three-hour session meant to produce a specific work of art.

Though most art classes are held in a traditional studio, Wine & Canvas thrives because it is a night out - without the intimidation of a formal art class, Pelly said.

Most of the company's other national locations have a studio. Pelly said she has yet to find the right location. But when she does, it will not take the place of her popular bar classes, which are hosted at 11 locations across the valley.

And they are popular.

Since the Las Vegas franchise began in February, Pelly has watched her attendance and Facebook "likes" double and triple. According to its online calendar, 14 of December's 21 events were sold out. As of Saturday, the Las Vegas Facebook page had more than 3,500 likes. And while there are other social painting groups that offer the opportunity to drink, Wine & Canvas fans agreed that hosting the event in bars was the key to their success.

Frequent painter Connie Strauser and daughter Brandy Sobanski said they attended the class Thursday after working a 10-hour shift with the city of Las Vegas. And while neither consider themselves artists, they said the class was always worth coming to because it was fun and had a great outcome.

"Art can be intimidating," Strauser said. "But this is a great way to put your foot in the pond and try it out. It's nice to have a change of setups and the food and drink. A studio setting seems a lot more formal and intimidating. What makes this work is the bar atmosphere."

Strauser, who said she had attended three Wine & Canvas events in the past 10 days, said the events constantly keep her discovering new bar/restaurants and doing something out of the typical "Vegas norm."

"We live in Las Vegas, which is supposed to be the entertainment capital of the world, but we've never done anything like this," Strauser said. "This stretches you. It's easy to go to a movie or show. You could spend $40 in a (slot) machine and lose it all, or come here and leave with a piece of art."

Michelle Kurtz, who said she has never had a knack for painting, has created 28 paintings since discovering the classes in March. The appeal, she said, is in the relaxing atmosphere and endless opportunities.

" It's a different painting every time," she said, explaining her interest. "I've never been an artistic person, but this just happened. Now a week never goes by that I don't do this."

Kurtz agreed that mobility of the group was an important part of the classes. Despite locations on every end of town, Kurtz said distance has never stopped her from attending an event.

"The different places, different food and different drinks are important," she said, adding that she has even made the 30-minute drive to Anthem (in Henderson) for a class. "That is part of the experience."

At the front of the room, Stuart returned to instructing painters, this time showing how an appropriately shaped triangle could create a tilting effect on the champagne flutes they were painting, to make them look like they were spilling over.

As Clark got back to painting on her canvas, she agreed that the wine was only a small portion of why she and a friend attended the event.

"We can drink wine at my house," Clark said simply. "That's not what this is about. It's fun, and it's unlike anything else."

Contact reporter Tara Verderosa at tverderosa@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0264.