Finding Your Inner Artist at Uptown Art!

This post is sponsored by Uptown Art. As always, all opinions are my own.

I am super excited to announce that I have partnered with Uptown Art, a premier painting studio in Chandler where you can meet, drink and paint happy!

Trust me when I say that this place needs to be added to your bucket list especially if you don’t quite consider yourself an artist. By the end of the class, you will be calling yourself a Young Picasso 😉

Thank you to Uptown Art owner Ginette for hosting my 3 cousins and me so that we could have a fabulous girls night out!

Ginette is the owner of the first Uptown Art west of the Mississippi; you can find several other locations throughout the United States here. She left her corporate job in 2013 to become the owner of Uptown Art in Chandler and it has been an absolute dream come true for her. She loves that everyone who works there brings so much creativity and heart into their jobs every day.

She believes that whether you enjoy a glass of wine, beer or sparkling water, a fun social art experience like Uptown Art needs to be on your bucket list, and I completely agree. According to her, it truly is an experience of letting go, trusting in the process and knowing that EVERYONE has an inner artist.

I always wondered why everyone on my Facebook feed who went to a painting (and drinking) class always had really great looking paintings…and I finally have the answer! There are two main factors: #1) The canvas comes with the drawing stenciled in and #2) the instructors are SO GOOD at their jobs! They tell you exactly which colors to mix and how much of each color needs to be mixed to achieve the perfect color. But they also stress that this is your painting and you can honestly choose any color.

Let me tell you that this is the perfect event for a girls’ night out, family night out, or a date night! My cousins and I had so much fun!

Throughout the class, there were definitely moments where I thought to myself ‘oh this doesn’t look right’ but at the end it all came together!

You are encouraged to bring your own drinks and my cousins and I opted for some wine 🙂 We saw several people bring in cheese and crackers so I’m definitely bringing snacks next time. The cool thing about Uptown Art is that it is next door to Yo Love, a frozen yogurt place and you get a discount if you go in with your Uptown Art apron.

There are two instructors per class: one is teaching (Ashley) and the other one (Ned) is walking around and helping people who are struggling. I was surprised to see that not too many people struggle, because honestly the teaching instructor does such a great job of providing guidance that you only really need extra help if you weren’t listening like my cousin Brenda ;).

But it is nice to be able to raise your hand and have someone come by right away and help you if you do need it. The instructor that night who was teaching us was Ashley, probably the most patient person I’ve ever met. She grew up in Phoenix and took her first art class during the summer at a craft store when she was 12 years old.

I was curious how she ended up at Uptown Art and it’s actually a funny story. She says she remembers looking at a friend’s art on his Facebook page and thinking, “He is good! He could totally get a job at Uptown Art!” Then she thought, “Wait a minute,… I could do this! I should get a job there!” So she called the studio to see if they were hiring, submitted her portfolio and the rest is history. Her job as the instructor is not only to take people step-by-step through the painting, but to instill confidence, to encourage, to cheer them on, and finally to celebrate with them at the end.

She loves empowering others and Uptown Art helps her do that. She says that in literally every class, they hear someone say, “oh I could never paint that!” or “wait till you see how bad mine will be!” but the end result is always a beautiful painting. I’m a little ashamed to say that I was one of those people. I honestly didn’t think my painting would look that great, but it did! I love it and it’s hanging in my kitchen now 🙂 so thank you Ashley!

She is impressed constantly by everyone who comes into their classes. Most people haven’t painted since high school and are nervous but according to her it takes courage to try something new and to put yourself out there. She is in awe of people who come in and just throw caution to the wind which I think is a great way of looking at the world.

She believes everyone should add Uptown Art to their bucket list because when wine is involved, nothing can go wrong and I agree! She says that there have been so many people who have come in with no painting experience at all, discover they love to paint, and come in all the time. How awesome to be able to help someone discover a new passion in their life, right?

One thing that she wants everyone to know is that they are not forced to tell you that your painting looks good, so when you get a compliment from them, believe them 🙂

I LOVED my experience at Uptown Art. Everyone was really friendly, the class I went to was very high energy, and I walked out with a beautiful painting. My favorite part, however, is that they are big believers in giving back to the community. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you will know that I am a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona program so giving back is very important to me.

Uptown Art gives back via their quarterly visits to the Phoenix’s Children Hospital to paint with patients, to various kids camps, to Paint Your Pet Fundraiser classes, and they are always looking for ways to contribute.

At least once a month they run promotions for their customers. At the end of the month they also send out a newsletter to all of their clients notifying them of next month’s calendar and an early registration discount. If you subscribe to their newsletter, you can get the inside scoop on everything!

Thanks for reading everyone. I hope to see you at Uptown Art soon! Stay enthusiastic!

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Maira

Enthusiastic About Life

A Food, Travel & Adventure Bucket List

Finding Your Inner Artist at Uptown Art!

This post is sponsored by Uptown Art. As always, all opinions are my own.

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