I have taken four painting classes with Wine & Canvas South Bend. Do not let their company name fool you. Even though they are called Wine & Canvas South Bend, they travel to Northwest Indiana locations including the Radisson Hotel in Merrillville, Indiana and Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Indiana. Wine & Canvas South Bend also offers classes at their studios located in Elkhart and Granger, Indiana.

I found out about Wine & Canvas, for short, through a Facebook friend, Robin. She was sharing a Wine & Canvas event link on her Facebook page. When I went to the Wine & Canvas website and checked out their calendar, I was hooked. I loved the variety of paintings that were offered. I located to my purse, fished out my debit card and signed up for four painting classes on Thursday nights at the Radisson Hotel. I was ready to paint!

The price is $35 per class which includes art supplies such as an apron, gallery-wrapped canvas, paint, brushes, easels and an artist to guide you through the class. Classes are approximately 3 hours long. Alcoholic beverages, soft drinks and food are not included in the price but are available to order for an additional cost. At the Radisson, the food and drinks come directly from the hotel’s restaurant, T.J. Maloney’s. By not including food and drinks in their price, Wine & Canvas is able to keep their prices low.

Here are the four paintings I’ve completed:

My first painting was called Paradise Moon:

This painting is called Vintage Romance:

This painting is called Quiet Moon:

This painting is called Moonlight Flight:

The painting classes are a fun, indoor activity which gave me a chance to dip into my artsy side. I did my paintings during February and early March, which made the rest of the winter fly by because every week I had a new painting to look forward to.

Here are two other things I discovered along my the way after attending the four classes:

1. Get there before 5:30pm to reserve yourself or your party a seat in the front. Wine & Canvas pre-seats larger parties of 6- – 7 people so all of the group members are able to sit together. Canvases are used to reserve spots. If you get there early and no one from a pre-seated large party is there yet you can ask one of the assistants to move the parties’ canvases down a few spots so you can sit in the front row. There’s no reason you have to sit in the back when you arrive that early. Wine & Canvas rewards people who arrive early.

Shown below are the canvases reserving spots for a 7 member party:

Shown here is the rest of the empty room.

If you want to sit front and center, just ask!

2. The start time is advertised as 6:00pm, but the actual start time is 6:15pm. I verified the start time with Torie Jaques, an employee at Wine & Canvas South Bend, over the phone. I asked Torie why Wine & Canvas doesn’t show their actual start time on the calendar. Her response was, “If we adjust the time on the calendar to 6:15pm or 6:30pm, then we would have to wait for late comers to arrive and not start the class until 7:00pm”.

Here’s what I do to pass the time because I arrive very early:

Upon arrival after work at 5:10pm, I check in and reserve my spot right up front. I leave the painting room and come back at 6:15pm. Meanwhile, I find a spot inside the Radisson to relax, either at Starbucks or one of the many tables set up around the hotel, and pass the time with a quiet activity such as listening to music, reading a book or writing in my journal.

I hope you try out a class. I hope you enjoy yourself and the beautiful painting that you will produce!

Peace,
Sara