Wine and Design

Many apologies for my absence! As many of you know, my day job as an educator keeps me very busy! And we all know what happens in August… Back to School! It's been quite a ride.

Now only was I busy meeting with teachers and preparing, but I was also preparing a certain 5-year-old for HER first day of Kindergarten! Holy Moly… this day arrived sooner than I ever could have expected!

(It's all about the bag and the shoes…)

She had a wonderful day and loves her teachers! We are blessed to have great schools and I know she will do great.

Sometimes when things get hectic…you need to de-stress. A couple of weeks ago, I got had a little adventure with some friends. We headed to Wine and Design in Charlotte for some wine, painting, and laughter.

When you first arrive, you put on your apron and pour yourself a glass of wine and just relax a little. (Note- you must bring your own wine.) Everyone's station is set up ahead of time with a blank canvas (only a pencil outline is provided), a palate of paint, and an assortment of brushes.

Next, your instructor will lead you in starting your painting. For our painting of Tuscany, we started with just the sky and the mountains. Our instructor demonstrated ways to paint each section and he also modeled for us on a canvas. I took pictures at different points along the way so that I could see how my painting progressed throughout the night.

Sky and Mountains

Next, we painted the house-- just an outline and the roof.

I'll admit that at this point, I wasn't thinking this would turn out to be anything special.

But it was fun to peek at each other's paintings and see how we all made them unique. Next, we added trees to our painting. THIS is where it really started to look like something. (Although, my husband said at this point that it looked like cucumbers.)

We then added windows to the house and added some shading to the trees to give them some dimension. I couldn't believe how much better the trees looked after adding the yellow! As you can see, we also added some shrubbery and bushes along the line where the land met the skyline.

Finally, the finishing touches were adding some red poppies to the grassy area and adding some white to the blue flowers-- which also added dimension.

When I finished this last step, I was so proud! I couldn't believe I painted this!

Of course, you must sign your work!

I loved walking around and admiring all of the other paintings. They were each unique in their own way, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Ta-da! Group Photo.

If you have never done one of the wine/paint sessions, I highlight recommend it for a girls' night out, a friend gathering, or even a date-night! I had a great experience at Wine and Design! If you visit their website, you can view their calendar and select the evening by the type of painting you would like to do. I really would love to do Charlotte's Starry Night. It's a Van Gogh-esque painting of the Charlotte skyline.

Have you ever done a wine and painting class?