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Colors and Bottles is the new way to take casual art classes with cocktails! Check us out at http://www.colorsandbottles.com
Columbus Dispatch article from 11/5/11....
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2011/11/05/clubs-in-pubs.html
Casual settings enhance joys of delving into arts, sciences:
An alcove inside an upscale sports bar might be the last place that one expects to find a lesson in fine art.
Yet there sat 30 aspiring Picassos on a recent Sunday, their palettes and canvases set up in a curtained section of Bar Louie — where a Cincinnati Bengals game blared from nearby big-screen televisions while other imbibers at the Easton Town Center establishment whooped intermittently.
Undeterred, instructor Bobbi Lapushansky guided her students through the basics of an acrylic portrait of a flowering rosebud as they sipped wine and nibbled appetizers between brushstrokes.
Shannon Lastrapes, seated with a table of girlfriends, relished the change of pace.
“It was something to do that was different — something artsy,” said the 24-year-old from Westerville, who otherwise might have stopped by only for a cocktail.
“The best part is that you get to take something with you.”
For event proprietor Jessica Burley: Mission accomplished.
Her new venture, Colors and Bottles, gives participants a three-hour painting lesson (including supplies) for $25 to $35. The offering is staged in bars, wineries and art galleries — including several BYOB variations this month at Short North venues.
“It’s super-fun,” said Burley, a 26-year-old Bexley native who recently returned to Columbus after several years in Chicago, where she continues to book such gatherings.
“Everyone leaves smiling.”
She plans to increase the number of dates and ultimately go full time with the project.
Such a concept aligns with a growing number of central Ohio watering holes with recurring interactive events that cater to artistic novices — setting up breezy, informal nights of culture.
“When you’re in an environment that’s inherently more social, it relaxes people, makes them more comfortable,” said 30-year-old Megan Severs, a public-relations employee from Columbus who this fall launched the Bibliophiles & Beverages Society, a book club that meets exclusively in bars and wineries.
“It facilitates conversation.”
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