Why Painting and Sipping Suits Every Occasion
Jun 02, 2021
BY ERIN CORSTIAANS
Most of you have probably heard the term ‘Paint & Sip’ before. In recent years we’ve seen paint and sip studios springing up all over the place, as more and more people catch the creative bug. Even if you haven’t come across this term, it’s pretty easy to take a punt at what we do in studio: we paint, and we sip. But what do we paint and sip? Well, here’s the fun bit. You get to decide those parts for yourself.
Guests book in to their painting of choice from our online calendar. We paint all kinds of things: landscapes, portraits, flora and fauna, still lives, travel-inspired pieces… the list goes on! Our experienced Cork & Chroma artist leads the guests through that session’s painting step by step, offering creative tips and tricks along the way. Three or so hours later, everyone has their own version of that painting to take home! As for the sip part, our studios are licensed and BYO. We have cold water available, but many guests like to bring along a bottle of their favourite wine or a few beers. Don’t drink alcohol? No worries! Bring along some softdrink or Kombucha, or a hot cuppa. You can sip on anything you like.
Painting and sipping is such a happy combination of things. It’s getting together to share laughter, music and drinks, and it’s trying something new and sharing a creative experience. For this reason, the paint & sip experience lends itself to so many different kinds of occasions and celebrations. It’s a way to connect on so many levels, and it’s just, well… really fun!
Artists Tom and Eddy at Cork & Chroma Melbourne
Birthdays
In almost every public Cork & Chroma session we find guests celebrating their birthday! We love celebrating these special birthday milestones with you. The best thing about celebrating your birthday at Cork & Chroma is that you can do so on any scale, either by booking a small group in to one of our public sessions, or booking the whole studio to yourself!
One great thing about painting in a public session is that everyone gets to celebrate with you (yep, we’re probably going to tell the whole room that it’s your birthday). On the other hand, the great thing about having the studio to yourself is that you get to choose your own painting and BYO food, drinks, decorations and… CAKE!
Hens Parties
Many people associate the paint & sip experience with a ‘girls night out’, and let’s be honest, Cork & Chroma is a pretty stellar choice for that. It’s simple math: painting + wine + fun music + best friends = a fabulous time! We’ve hosted many a hen’s party in our studios because the paint and sip experience ticks all the fun boxes.
Most of the time, our hen’s parties are booked as private events. This means that you get the studio and Cork & Chroma artist all to yourself, and can decorate the space to your heart’s content! Booking the space out means you get to choose your painting from our list of options, or you can even have a unique painting commissioned for your special hen (at an extra cost). It’s also BYO food and drinks. If you’re heading out afterwards to continue celebrating, we can safely store your paintings in our studio for up to one week to make things a bit easier.
Painting Examples at Cork & Chroma
Painting Examples at Cork & Chroma
Date Night
Be it a first time Tinder date or a thirty year anniversary, Cork & Chroma is a great choice for date night. Painting and sipping is a wonderful experience to share with your special someone; painting side by side and seeing each of your unique interpretations of the same painting can show you a new side of your partner and lead to insightful connection and conversation.
We even have a few cute lovey dovey paintings (find ‘Lovebirds’ on our calendar) and ‘Paint Your Mate’ sessions where couples can paint portraits of one another—you can imagine how this can often lead to hilarious results!
Family Time
That’s right, the kiddliwinks get to paint too! On weekends and public holidays you can find Family Paint sessions on our calendar, which are best suited for children between the ages of six and twelve. Kids either side of this age gap are welcome to paint along, however please use your judgment in regards to their abilities and attention span. In our Family Sessions the kids and their parent/s or primary caregivers paint together, so the ‘big kids’ can assist the little ones. It’s a wonderful opportunity for families to encourage their budding artists and build up their creative confidence (as well as their own!). We use smaller canvases in our Family Sessions and they run for approximately two hours. It’s a shorter, simpler session with a focus on fun!
We host birthday parties for kids too. Let us know if you would like to book the studio for a private event and we’ll work with you to decide on the best painting choice and time frame to suit your little one’s needs.
Artist Eddy from Cork & Chroma Melbourne
Artist Eddy from Cork & Chroma Melbourne
Team Events
While the paint and sip experience would fit any creative or ‘right-brained’ team like a glove, you may be surprised to hear that we also paint with many ‘left-brained’ teams, such as accountants, lawyers and engineers. Left-brained thinkers are generally more analytical and methodical by nature, so it can be liberating to engage with the opposite side of the brain for a change, unlocking the creative and spontaneous artist within! We often find left-brained guests take surprisingly well to painting; after all, there’s a method involved with constructing a painting, too!
Painting as a team and engaging collectively with a new experience can be a great way to break the ice, connect and bond. It’s fun, it’s different, and it’s memorable! Teams can join in our public sessions, or book the studio for a private event where you get to choose the painting and can BYO food and drinks. Please note that we require a minimum of ten seats for private events.
Online Sessions
For those of you who can’t make physically make it to one of our Cork & Chroma studios, we run online sessions, too! The wonderful thing about our online sessions is that you can paint from anywhere in the world, and there are no maximum numbers. Please reach out if you are interested in booking an online session and we’ll work with you to accommodate your needs in terms of your painting choice and preferred time. In terms of equipment, we can send you a guide ahead of time to let you know what arty equipment you will need for the session, or at an extra cost we can deliver the goods directly to you.
Offsite Sessions
Let us bring the Cork & Chroma experience to you! We’ve painted and sipped all over the place: festivals, offices, markets, vineyards, casinos, even The Bachelor HQ! For pop-up events we require a minimum of 40 seats. If this is something you’re interested in, please get in touch and we’ll work with you to discuss how we can best bring the paint & sip experience to your venue.
The Melbourne Cork & Chroma Team
We’ve touched on some of the most popular occasions for painting and sipping, but we sure don’t paint the line there! We’ve painted with all kinds of people and celebrated all kinds of occasions, and that’s the way we like it. Ultimately, our studios are a space where people can get together and have fun. Whether it’s celebrating the big things, the small things, or nothing at all, painting and sipping is an invitation for connection, and it’s for everyone.