MUNCHIES WITH MONET?
Finding your creative — and social — side at Painting with a Twist
“When I’m painting, everything in the outside world goes away for two hours.”
That sentiment reflects the personal experience of Connie Sluzynsky of Monaca, but it also could sum up the draw for the hundreds of individuals and groups who have gone to Painting with a Twist studios since they came to the Pittsburgh region in 2013.
The nationally franchised chain, which launched in Louisiana in 2009, is an afternoon or evening out built around creating a painting — participants all paint the same image — and made social with bring-your-own munchies and drink, which can include alcohol.
Painting with a Twist now has studios at four locations in the region — Robinson, Castle Shannon, Monroeville and McCandless.
Ms. Sluzynsky said she went to a Painting with a Twist session in Columbus, Ohio, a few years ago, and when a friend heard that one was opening in Robinson, they headed there. Nearly two years later, she has painted about 70 canvases featuring a variety of subjects, but she does have a favorite thing to paint.
“I like to do trees. You can’t make a mistake on a tree,” she said.
What keeps her returning? “It’s a good place to go to. It really is a lot of fun,” she answered without hesitation.
The 56-year-old administrative assistant does not have an art background. “I cannot draw a straight line. But the artists [at Painting with a Twist] are so talented at teaching that when I take a painting home and look at it, I can’t believe I’ve done that.”
Ms. Sluzynsky paints two or three times a month, choosing sessions from a monthly calendar posted on the individual franchise websites. She has a few friends she goes with, and sometimes her husband joins her on the studio’s occasionally scheduled Date Nights.
Recently she and her family attended one of the monthly fundraisers that the various studios sponsor — called Painting with a Purpose — to benefit a local charity. The featured painting was called “Starry Night Over Pittsburgh,” an altered rendition of the famous Vincent van Gogh
work. “They’re giving back to the community, and I like that,” she said of the franchises.
The Robinson location was the first in this area, opened by co-owners Jamie, 41, and Nicole Orlando, 42, in April 2013. Neither owner has an art background — hers is accounting and his is engineering -- but, Ms. Orlando said, “I’d always wanted to be in business for myself. This opportunity came up, and at the time, there was no other like it in Pittsburgh.”
The reception they received was so encouraging that they opened a second location in November 2014 in Castle Shannon, a decision that took some family soulsearching. To oversee both locations Mr. Orlando would have to quit his job. “We have children. It was a pretty big risk,” Ms. Orlando said.
So far, the risk is paying off. The Robinson studio holds public and/or private classes seven days a week. The Castle Shannon location is open five or more days.
Those who come to the studios are “anybody ages 5 to 105 — men, women, kids,” Ms. Orlando said. “Everybody has artistic ability, and we try our best to bring it out in everyone. It’s creative. It’s fun. Some call it therapy. People come here to unwind. You walk in the door, we want to make sure it’s fun. There’s music playing. Artists are there to greet you and show you to your seat. Then the art part comes in.”
Sessions are led by an artist painting the featured work on an elevated stage, while artist assistants roam among attendees advising, answering questions and refreshing supplies. The artists are all professionally trained and include art teachers, graphic designers and university studio arts students.
“They’re all local and they’re all phenomenal,” Ms. Orlando said. Painting with a Twist claims to be the largest employer of artists in the country.
“Our artists are trained to show people how to create a painting step by step,” Ms. Orlando said. “Sometimes [participants] come in a little nervous, have some anxiety, but they all walk out with a finished painting. They are just amazed by the end of the evening.”
The “twist” in the franchise title refers to the individuality encouraged in the paintings even as everyone paints the same image. “It’s not paint by number,” Ms. Orlando said
A blank 16-inch by 20-inch canvas, brushes and acrylic paints are provided. Session art is selected by individual owners from a franchise library of about 5,000 images. The most popular images, Ms. Orlando said, are Pittsburgh scenes. “Everyone loves Pittsburgh,” she said. Others include flowers, trees, Pop art, Monets, Van Goghs, wine glasses, beach scenes — “a subject for everybody.”
Painting with a Twist studios invite attendees to bring snacks and drink, including wine, beer or other alcohol. Some bring nonalcoholic refreshment, some bring more substantial food in crock pots. Individuals generally keep their food and drink at their seats, while groups might set up a share table in the studio. “It’s as formal or informal as they choose,” Ms. Orlando said.
The franchises post upcoming events and the selected paintings for each on their websites by mid-month for the next upcoming session, and many of the most popular sell out. Registrations can be made online or by phone. Adult classes generally are held in the evenings and children’s on weekend days during the school year.
In addition to public classes, the franchises host private events, including children’s birthday parties, girls’ nights out, bachelorette parties, bridal showers, corporate team-building exercises and Date Nights, during which couples may each complete half of a painting and later combine the canvases. Groups have included the Girl Scouts and the Red Hat Society.
The Orlandos offer a Paint Your Pet option, in which participants email a photograph of their pet and the studio prepares a sketch on the canvas for participants to work from. Pet portraits mostly feature dogs and cats but also have included a rooster, donkey, rabbit, horses and a turtle, Ms. Orlando said.
Pricing is usually based on studio time: 1½ hour children’s classes are $25 per person; a two-hour adult class, $35; and a three-hour class, $45. Paint Your Pet is $55 because more staff is required to guide painters.
Since the Orlandos opened the Robinson and Castle Shannon locations, others have opened the studios in Monroeville and McCandless.
The Monroeville studio was opened in October 2014 by Kimberly Carson, 56, who retired from a 23-year career as a Verizon customer technician. “We’re really happy,” Ms. Carson said. “God has truly blessed our location with great staff, and Monroeville has really taken to us.”
On some weekends, 300 people have come to the Friday and Saturday evening classes, which has kept staff hopping. Rachel Renaudin, lead artist and studio manager, flew with Ms. Carson and two other artists to New Orleans for corporate training.
The idea for Painting with a Twist was generated by two Louisiana women, Cathy Deano and Renee Maloney, who wanted to start something positive in their community during the depressing period following Hurricane Katrina. They weren’t artists, but they opened a little art studio in 2007, and it morphed into a franchise, Ms. Renaudin said.
She likes that the studios are something that people can enjoy with friends, and that they also can count the sessions as art credits for home-schooled youngsters.
In November 2014, Amanda Lee, whose background is in business consulting, opened a studio in McCandless. She said business has been picking up as people learn about her location and classes.
Ms. Lee echoed other owners and participants. “It’s all about the social interaction, being connected with your friends for a couple of hours,” she said.
“Sometimes the guys are just dragged here by their wives or girlfriends, but they’re believers when they leave,” she said. “One man told me it was the most fun he’d had in the last six months. People say you can relax and talk, not just sit quietly next to someone in a movie theater for two hours. We take breaks to let the paint dry and people visit and freshen their drinks.
“And everyone’s art turns out great. It’s not meant to be a copy. We have people who change things all the time. We advocate creativity every step of the way. They put their own twist on their own pieces.”