I’m a working artist, muralist, and painting instructor with a lifelong love of creating. I earned my BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and after years of teaching painting classes, I founded Smoky Mountains Paint n’ Party, where I teach classic, completely G-rated paint-and-sip parties. I design the paintings for those events myself and break them down into approachable, easy-to-follow steps so that even someone picking up a paintbrush for the first time can jump in and have fun.

As an artist, I hear people say all the time, “I could never do that,” or, “I can’t even draw a stick figure.” I’ve never believed that. Everyone brings something uniquely their own to what they create, and I wanted to make painting feel accessible to people who might otherwise be intimidated by it.

Then I started thinking that maybe painting could get a little more creative.

Cowboys & Canvases grew out of that same love of making art accessible and fun, just with a decidedly more PG to PG-13 twist. I wanted to create a painting experience specifically for bachelorette parties, divorce parties, girls’ nights out, birthdays, and any other occasion that calls for getting your favorite people together, laughing a lot, trying something different, and appreciating the company of some very good-looking cowboys while you’re at it.

Cowboys & Canvases is not about creating the perfect painting to hang over the sofa. It is about the experience of making something together. In fact, after years of teaching, I’ve found that people often create their best work once they stop worrying about whether it is going to be “good” and start enjoying themselves.

That is what I want Cowboys & Canvases to be: an excuse to get together, get creative, celebrate whatever deserves celebrating, and discover what you can make when you give yourself permission to have a little fun with it. And if a handsome cowboy is there to admire your masterpiece, cheer you on, or make you laugh along the way, all the better.