It's been one year since Let's Paint! has partnered with High Hops Brewery to offer public painting events. You can't go wrong with cold beer, a mountainous view from the patio, friends and a little paint. Cheers to one year!
I love when friends come and paint. Nice job, Scott!
That's me... before we got our fancy 'Let's Paint!' shirts.
More friends! These girls just happen to be artists themselves. Can't you tell?
Let's Paint! had the fantastic opportunity to put on a date night painting party at Timberline Windsor Church. I brought my date too! My handsome hubby is on the far right. As always, he was a great help. We had a blast watching the couples paint together. I think everyone enjoyed the experience and ended up with a painting they were proud of!
Final Creations!
Ashley and Justin enjoying martial bliss
Matt and Becky working as a team
Chris and Liz and their purple creation
Because pictures of ice cream make me happy
I just love weddings and all the celebration that comes along with. One year ago my family was preparing for my youngest brother's wedding in Estes Park. Such happy memories of family and friends. There is something so beautiful about everyone coming together to celebrate two lives joining. As these memories resurface this time of year, I am also reminded of Melanie's bachelorette party that I had the privilege of doing last May. Melanie and her family and friends gathered for an afternoon of champagne and glass painting. I led them through the step-by-step flower painting lesson, and they rocked it! Their wine glasses were beautiful. Hopefully whenever they pour a glass of wine, they are reminded of good times.
Cheers!
If you want to make some artistic memories with your family and friends, contact me at: letspaintcolorado@gmail.com/ 970.396.7233/ visit my website: letspaintparties.com
One of the most rewarding components of this job is leading the anxious painter to a successful outcome. Several guests at Anne Marie's party had some artistic experience, while several did not. A few of the inexperienced painters were feeling a little anxious about painting together. I was confident that I could help them create a successful painting. Hopefully they would gain confidence through the process, and enjoy the journey too!
Our process began in Anne Marie's sunny kitchen, serenaded by a cassette tape of George Strait, and we were kept awake by a counter top full of homemade treats. As we applied the different background gradients, I gave extra attention to the beginning painters. I noticed that they gained confidence and began to make independent choices for their artwork (always a delight for an art teacher to witness.) As we painted in the branches and silhouettes, each painting took on it's own personality and the painter's style began to shine through. As our session came to a finish, I was delighted to witness everyone creating something they were proud of. Each painting was successful, personal, and I could tell the painters enjoyed the artistic process!
Check out their paintings! If you want to paint with your friends, email me at: letspaintcolorado@gmail.com and visit my website: letspaintparites.com
It was such an honor to put on a paint party for the Tozer School staff. Tozer has a special place in my heart because I used to teach art there. I also attended Tozer as a student, and my son went to preschool there last year too! The Tozer staff is one-of-a-kind. Truly the most caring collection of teachers. We used to joke that walking into Tozer is like walking into one giant hug.
Anyway, back to the party. This was my largest party yet with 32 painters! Luckily, I had my lovely sister-in-law, Liz, to help. I led the staff through the flower wine glass painting lesson and was impressed with the outcome. Each wine glass painting was unique and reflected the different personalities in the room. They were all quite beautiful and creative! Check out the pictures.
It was an honor to celebrate the end of the year with the Tozer staff and I hope they were able to celebrate at home with a tall glass of wine in their painted glass!
If you want to paint with your co-workers, family or friends, check out my website and email me: letspaintparties.com/ letspaintcolorado@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading!
-Elizabeth Dolton with Let's Paint!
This painting party was hosted by my dear friend, Suzy. I had the privilege of leading some of my most favorite women in the world through this romantic, drippy, and slightly abstract number. Oh, what fun we had! As always, there were a lot of laughs, really good food and wine, and plenty of silliness. Jamie dipping her brush into her wine was the highlight of the evening. If you are wondering, painting with wine just doesn't quite work!
Here are the final outcomes. Great job, Ladies!
It was a sunny and windy April evening out on the Hergert Farm. The delicious aroma of vegetable soup and bread hung in the air. The last of the evening light danced in the sky as the guests arrived. After a long week of work, bowls and wine glasses were filled and the painting began!
These ladies painted "Floating Flowers" and each integrated their own style into their piece (intentionally or not!). I just love how that happens.
Look how hard they are working... they must be used to working together! Painting and team-building definitely go hand-in-hand. We had some good laughs too. More about that after this pic.
So here's what happened...
Both of my grandma's graciously donated years worth of aprons to my painting business. So, I ended up with all these vintage aprons- some of which, I actually remember my Grandma wearing when I was little. Anyway, as I'm explaining the sentimental significance of the aprons, somebody reaches in her pocket and pulls out.... Grandma's Kleenex! It must have been in there a while because it was pretty vintage looking too.
We all had a good laugh. This picture was taken right after the Kleenex incident.
Check out these beautiful creations!
If you want to create some painting memories with your teammates or friends check out my website at letspaintparties.com and email me: letspaintcolorado@gmail.com.
Thanks for reading!
-Elizabeth
Have you ever had a dream of doing something, but the picture of what precisely you want to do wasn't very clear? If so, me too-read on! If not, let me explain...
Well, it all started over a year ago with a few friends. We began reading The Circle Maker by Mark Batterson. This book about prayers and pursing dreams inspired me to pray and think about a specific desire I've had to do something... but not sure exactly what.
Rewind back to last summer (2013): After an exhausting year of teaching, being a mother, wife, and conducting my Action Research for my master's degree I was a bit... worn out. With my MA in Art Education almost in hand (aka pay raise!), 9 years of working with the same school district (aka job security!) I realized that the path I was on was no longer right for me and I quit my job. Somehow, in the years of loving my job as an art teacher, things changed. I changed. While my passion for sharing my joy of creating never faded, the confines of the classroom job became quite cumbersome. I was faced with dilemmas such as: How can I have a tea party with my 2 year-old when I have to be at work by 7:15? And, if I have to stay after school for another staff meeting, how will I be able to build forts with my son? Ok, maybe not serious problems, I know, but sometimes we just need a little more joy in our lives. After all, isn't artistic creation often an avenue for expressing and finding joy? I just wanted to get back to that. And have more time to be a mom.
After quitting, I thoroughly enjoyed time with my family, but I still had that desire to share my passion of art with others. I missed the energy of teaching a group of people to create and taking part in their creativity. On January 11th 2014, a friend casually asked me if I'd be interested in doing a painting lesson for her and some friends. At that moment, I realized that was EXACTLY what I wanted to do! My passion for creating and love for teaching collided with this small business concept. I spent weeks creating canvas paintings, wine glass paintings, developing my website, and inventing the specifics of the business.
So, here we are almost 6 months after the official launch of my painting party business, Let's Paint! where "I bring the joy of creating to you." It's been a fun adventure! I've had a lot of successful parties, some good learning experiences, and fun plans for the future! Come journey with me through this blog as I recount my experiences. Thanks for reading!
-Elizabeth
