I've lived in Brisbane all my life and sometimes worry that I've seen it all, done it all, and experienced it all. However recently my friend stumbled across
Cork and Chroma which is unlike anything I've ever experienced. This wonderful venue situated in South Brisbane is a paint and sip studio where the talented in-house artists teach its guests to paint a mini masterpiece whilst they sip upon their favourite beverage. Last week I meet up with some old girlfriends and we decided to give our artistic skills, unused since high school visual art classes (so many years ago), another twirl.
Enjoying a sip before we start painting.
We arrived just before 7pm as the website suggests to settle into our spots and were met by the talent Nick. He showed us to our designated painting area, where we found paintbrushes, an empty palette, canvas and water glass (that I almost drank out of on many occasions) ready for our use. After donning our paint-splattered aprons and filling our wine glasses with our preferred beverages, we headed over to the paint station to collect a variety of water-based colours.
The fantastic Nick
A wonderful part of our painting experience was the freedom to paint whatever we chose. We booked in to paint the Bespoke Romance artwork but Nick encourages all of his patrons to paint whatever our hearts feel and eyes can see. At the paint station he mentioned that he would be using certain colours but again encouraged us to branch out and design our own palette. I grabbed a variety of neutrals and some light cool colours then returned to our table prepped and ready to go.
Paint, wine and nibbles. We are ready to go!
After grabbing the room's attention Nick explained how the night would work; he would teach us the basics via a slow step-by-step method, with constant stops so we could catch up, or head down our own paths. He was true to his word, and after every element of the painting was , he would turn on the music, encourage us to sing, and then wander the room offering encouragement and advice to those who requested it.
The music was a delightful fix of fantastic 90's hits and a few daggy tunes from our favourite musicals. Whilst I am the sort of girl whose main audience is her showerhead, my mates beside me sung along like they really were in the final scene of Dirty Dancing.
Everyone's artwork ends up looking different, that is what makes the Cork and Chroma experience so interesting.
This loud public singing may have had something to do with the fact these sessions are in an 18 plus, licensed BYO establishment and we were a couple of glasses in by this point. This is another aspect I truly loved about our experience; being able to have a glass of white wine whilst we perfected our brush strokes, made the evening a perfect girl's night out. Don't be fooled however, and think Cork and Chroma is only for the ladies, there were in fact a number of male artists painting alongside us gals.
An artist at work.
Nick kept a wonderful pace throughout the entire night, never rushing us through sections, but also never allowing us to overwork a segment and potentially ruin it. After a couple hours of painting the artworks features; a square windows, red bricks, creeping vines and a gorgeous old bicycle, he then taught us the trick of shading. Once we had our source of light decided upon, we were able to add some black and white to our work and truly watch it come to life.
The most enjoyable moments in life always go so fast and I'm sure this is why the night progressed so quickly and in just three hours we saw our blank canvases change into stunning works of art that I will happily hang in my home.
The progress of my masterpiece.
At the end of the night the three of us compared our masterpieces and with little discussion confirmed we would definitely be attending again. If you would like to attend on of Cork and Chroma's paint and sip sessions simply head to their website and check out the
timetable to decide which artwork you would like to recreate. Maybe I will see you there.
Our final works of art.
