Drink glasses and paint brushes were in abundance as participants unleashed their inner artists in Neighbours Pub on Nov. 3.
“Unleash Your Inner Artist” is a monthly program, created by NTW Studio & Gallery owner and nine-year instructor Nancy Tarrant, where beginners can learn how to paint works of art while enjoying a few beverages on the side.
“For a lot of people, they’ve never picked up a paintbrush before,” Tarrant said. “It gives them a chance to try something completely different.”
“This is something that’s quite popular in Edmonton,” she added. “When Ryan (Hamzeh) became the owner (of Neighbours) he knew of some friends who had been doing it. He wanted to bring something more to the pub for different options. So he approached me and asked me if it was something I wanted to do so I said yes.”
Each two-hour class, Tarrant brings in a proposed painting taking each amateur artist through a step-by-step process of how to create it. Although the paintings may have the same theme, no two are alike, leaving each painter with their own unique version.
“They go home with their version of the painting,” she said. “So the colours could be different, trees could be different, the painting could be slightly altered for them because it’s their painting. We just want people to come out try something new, hangout with their friends and go home with a piece of art.”
Tarrant was quite happy with the turnout for the first ever “Unleash Your Inner Artist” night bringing in 18 participants and getting all sorts of positive results. She noticed that a lot of the painters were becoming more and more confident with their artistic abilities.
“They come, they give it a go and they discover they can make a picture that looks like what they want it to look like,” she said. “It makes them feel better. It helps them find a piece of themselves that they’ve forgotten about or didn’t realize they had.”
The paint program will continue to be featured at Neighbours Pub on the first Thursday of every month from 7-9 p.m., but Tarrant said that it will soon be offered at the Boyle Community Centre in the near future.
“It’s really starting to take off,” she said. “So it’ll actually kind of be every second week, if people are willing to travel (to) unleash their inner artist.”
