Whitniffic Whatnots

Wow! Three sessions of Paint your Pet have been completed already this year! While most paint night classes at places like Pinot's Palette attract groups of 30 or so, I'm kind of relieved that ours only averaged about six participants per class. Clearly, we'd have loved to have more people attend, but this type of event is pretty labor-intensive for me. Sketching out the pets ahead of time is really necessary for the paintings to turn out great, as most people do great at painting but openly claim they can't draw for a darn. Unfortunately, it takes anywhere between 20-30 minutes per canvas for me to grid and sketch the canvases, which really adds up! Our first two classes were back-to-back; first Tuesday night in Green Bay, then Wednesday night in Two Rivers. This was slightly stressful, because I had 14 canvases total to sketch the weekend before, including my own samples. I did learn after the first night, however, that it's best for me to walk around and...

My good friend who owns the wedding/event venue recently opened a second location, and she's doing something really cool with it. She has a small staff helping her out with everyday business, and she's encouraging them all to host events as fundraisers for organizations or causes they're passionate about for no cost, which is super generous and awesome! This concept is a win-win all around. It helps the venue get their name out, plus they have a liquor license and a full bar for beverage sales. It helps the charity or cause with awareness and monetary support. And best of all, it gives people in a small town some fun things to do for a night out! I don't work for Gina (although I helped translate her vision for the new venue space!), but she asked me if I'd be interested in teaching "Paint Your Pet" nights to raise money for the Humane Society. Of course I said I would be honored- but I hadn't painted in years! I would need to get some practice and...