Wine and Art!

RED Entertainment switches it up

THE combination of individuals sipping wine while painting with free strokes on white canvases was not to be seen regularly in Guyanese culture until just a few years ago.
This relaxing activity, called ART Glass, was the brainchild of RED Entertainment co-owners: Kristina King, Chelsea Fung and Saskia Wyngaarde, with the aim of diversifying the entertainment sector in Guyana.

Now, once every month, amateur artists and creative people who love wine and love to paint can visit one of the two designated venues — the Publik or the 704 Sports Bar, Club and Sky Lounge –to indulge.
At the event’s most recent occurrence on Thursday, at the Publik, the Pepperpot Magazine met with co-owner, Saskia Wyngaarde, who revealed much about how the art class began.

Speaking with regard to RED Entertainment, she said: “We kind of started on a whim because we noticed that there was a lack of entertainment and activities and things that are different for Guyanese culture,” Wyngaarde explained

She added: “So we started off with a Jazz show and it spiraled to people saying ‘Why don’t you do your own stuff and get hired?’”
After the promptings, the three started to plan and organise small weddings from which their business evolved.

When it comes to the ART Glass painting class, the co-owner says that they drew the idea from countries which had similar events and coupled it with the primary intention to bring out the creativity in Guyanese.

“We were trying to think of ideas that would bring out the creative side of Guyanese and also something different to do that wasn’t just like going to a party,” she told.
“In other countries, they do something similar where they have wine and art, so we came up with the idea where people can relax, have a drink and paint,” she explained. “And, as we know, the Guyanese culture is the drinking culture so we were able to add in that part along with the art. It kind of loosens people up.”

Throughout the evening, the visitors for the night, who were tasked with painting a colourful unicorn, could be heard laughing and interacting with each other as they tried to make their work as identical as the artist’s as possible.

Guiding them step by step was 27-year-old artist, Shimuel Jones, who told the Pepperpot Magazine that although many persons begin the class with preconceived doubts about their abilities, they most times emerge very proud of themselves.
“It’s been good, most of the time when people come, they’re like: ‘Oh, I can’t do this, this looks challenging’ but at the end of the class, when we go through the stuff together, they achieve it and they have a smile on their face. So it’s nice to see that working together we can accomplish it,” Jones expressed.

He further said that seeing guests happy makes him feel happy in turn and his job is something he looks forward to every month.
The company’s Executive Assistant, Shonta Noel, who is always there to help out at the events, says that the occasion is usually a jovial one and told of the time persons were comparing ‘fatness’ of their owls against how it was actually supposed to look.

Also part of the last class was Nalini Vieira who said that she had been coming to the class consecutively which helps to improve her skills and on that night, she brought her daughter to share in the experience.

“I love painting, I think it relaxes me and I love coming to every class they have…I think it [my skills] has improved but every painting is different so when you try a different one you realise you don’t have a certain technique,” she expressed.

Among the challenges, Wyngaarde says the team faces, however, is the difficulty of obtaining a lot of canvases for the visitors.
In addition, because the class is held only once a month, there is usually a waiting list but the co-owner nonetheless, encourages persons to try the class as it is not impossible to get in and it helps to relax the mind.

“It’s something different to do, it opens your mind and some people might even realise that they enjoy this and pursue being an artist for the long run,” she said. “It’s for families, it’s for children, it’s a nice time to come together.”

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