Well, here it is! My masterpieces to summarize the shiny new skills I picked up last night at A Palate for Painting, a creative cocktail event at Urban Grace. I’m not sure how I made it this far without dabbling in either, but up to this point I had essentially zero experience in cookie decorating and watercolor painting – the two featured activities of the evening. Headlining the evening was Erika Powell, Urban Grace owner/interior designer and watercolor painting enthusiast, along with Elisabeth Farris of Elisabeth and Butter who teamed up to share their skills with the group. Erika recently launched her namesake fabric line, Erika M. Powell Textiles and her own watercolor paintings served as the patterns for the line. If you follow Julia of Gal Meets Glam or James Farmer, you might recognize Elisabeth from her collaborations with those stylish tastemakers. With a cap of 20 attendees, the vibe at Urban Grace’s headquarters felt like a chic gathering at a girlfriends house with fabulous friends who make their impressive talents look effortless. I’m so glad I was able to be part of this group and loved the mix of old and new friends.
We broke into two groups of ten, rotating for a session with Elisabeth and one with Erika. I started in Elisabeth’s class and loved trying my hand at cookie decorating. The vodka and edible painting was fun, but I think icing the pineapple, ice cream and popsicle shapes was my favorite part.It felt almost therapeutic to concentrate on outlining and filling in (or maybe that’s just me). I definitely learned you have to be quick to achieve the smoothness you see from the pros! Elisabeth is so good at it! After a little trial and error, I felt pretty proud of my creations. With the rosé flowing, we mixed and mingled before switching to watercolor. Erika took us through the color wheel and process for achieving a range of shades from our paint sets before we created our own color palette to inspire an original creation. My first go looked like a blob of spilled La Croix, but by the end, I managed a cute little flamingo, which I think will find a place in one of the girls’ spaces. From what I heard, more events like this will be happening in the future, so if this type of night floats your boat, be sure to snag a spot.
