Painting with Pinot

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Have you ever done Picasso, with a Pinot?

Well if you haven’t this is your sign to get a group of friends together and go do one in the heart of wine country, Pokolbin.

Pinot and Picasso started with two high school friends, James Crowe and Aaron Carrasco wanting to create a unique way to have fun. Neither of the boys is an artist, but they do know how to have a good time.

It started as one small studio in their hometown Penrith in Sydney and now it’s grown to studios right across Australia and New Zealand.

If you haven’t heard of it before, Pinot and Picasso is essentially an art class. You choose the painting you want to do in the class and book a date. All you have to take along with you is a bottle of wine that you want to sip while you and your friends paint along with the art teacher.

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There are a few Pinot and Picasso options around, you’ll find studios in Newcastle and Pokolbin and some other independent versions of the idea.

I went along to the Pokolbin studio on De Beyers Road with a group of girlfriends to paint “Into the Lions Den” on a Friday night.

It’s important to stress that no actual artistic abilities are required… just your creativity or at the very least a willingness to let go and have a good time.

When you arrive at your class the easel and paints are all set up for you ready to go. You just need to pop on an apron and grab a glass for your beverage of choice.

Once you’ve got yourself settled in front of an easel the artist at the front of the room will take you through your painting. If you’re anything like me, a blank canvas with no outline and no joining the dots might make you feel uneasy (particularly when you’ve chosen a painting with an animal on it!) but my feeling of unease disappeared when the artist took us through the step by step on how to draw the outline ourselves.

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The artist tells you what colours to mix to get the colour she has and exactly where and what shape you’re doing with that colour on the painting – if you fall behind or you get confused the artist is there to help you as well.

You’ll find every group you paint with during the class has the following:

  • The person always asking questions, confirming what colours are being mixed and where they go so their painting is exactly like the artist
  • The rookie painter who doesn’t listen and is asking everyone what part they missed and where they’re up to
  • The friend who is sipping on their wine and going off on their own little painting adventure
  • And the friend who paints like they’re a professional and done it for years

Whichever friend you are, you’re guaranteed to have fun!

The great part is you get to take your masterpiece home and my painting surprisingly turned out pretty good – good enough that I hung it on my wall at home that weekend.

Classes start at around $55 for the Pinot and Picasso in Pokolbin and you can choose from a range of different paintings to do – still life or flowers in vases, buildings or animals like we did.

It’s so fun and great for a friend’s birthday, a catch-up or even a hen’s party idea.

All the details are here: https://www.pinotandpicasso.com.au/huntervalley/

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