Heyl: A chance for art by the bottle
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Eric Heyl 412-320-7857Columnist
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Eric Heyl is a columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. His work appears throughout the week.
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January 18, 2014
Four-and-a-half years ago, an Army sergeant went missing in Afghanistan. His family wants him back, by force if necessary.By Eric Heyl
Published: Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, 11:36 p.m.
Jackson Pollock, who was famous for his abstract art and his alcohol consumption, undoubtedly would have approved.
An upcoming series of painting classes held in area taverns and restaurants will enable participants to hold a brush in one hand and a beer mug in the other. They'll have to display considerable dexterity to complete their works without spilling Yuengling on them.
Will they be up to that challenge next week in Hough's Taproom and Brewpub in Greenfield and at several other establishments in the coming weeks? The evidence provided by the 2-year-old company that has successfully staged these events in other cities suggests so.
The South Carolina-based outfit, Colors and Bottles, brings to bistros and sports bars something not ordinarily seen during broadcasts of Penguins games on a 60-inch, high-definition television: Up to 30 cocktail enthusiasts and aspiring artists sitting in front of easels for several hours.
“You're not there to make a masterpiece; you're there to make friends. You're there to make a good memory,” said Leah St. Clair, vice president of customer service and event operations. “And at the end of the night, you get to take home something you created.”
Here's how it works: For $35 (or considerably less for industrious types who track down readily available online coupons), artist wannabes are equipped with acrylic paint, canvas and three hours of instruction from local painters working as Colors and Bottles contractors. By the evening's conclusion, after step-by-step instruction, the budding artists have a completed 16- by 20-inch painting to hang on their living room wall.
According to St. Clair, discounted drink specials often are offered by the taverns hosting the classes. Presumably, that's done to help speed the creative process.
Hey, it worked for Pollock.
The city's first Colors and Bottles event will be held Thursday in Hough's. It won't be the first offbeat event the place has hosted. The taproom holds a pig roast every summer as part of Pittsburgh Craft Beer Week festivities, and marketing coordinator Cassie Hough hopes that plying people with palettes proves as popular a draw for Hough's as swine on a spit.
The art class “should be good for us, provide us exposure to people who may not have been to the bar before,” she said. “We definitely have high hopes, and if things go well, hopefully we will do it again.”
St. Clair is equally hopeful for her company's other planned Western Pennsylvania events — at the Beerhive in the Strip District, the Baltimore House in Pleasant Hills and the Elrama Tavern in West Elizabeth.
“It's been our experience in other cities that people of all skill levels take to the stress-free social art experiences in these casual settings,” she said.
Given the environment in which the paintings will be produced, if St. Clair is correct, expect a dramatic increase in locally produced acrylic interpretations of Coors cans.
Not exactly Pollock's style, but given his notorious fondness for spirits, he most certainly would have been proud.
Eric Heyl is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7857 oreheyl@tribweb.com.
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