Pinot & Picasso is bringing paint and party sessions to Liverpool

Mates, groups or solo painters can come together to create their own masterpieces with step-by-step guidance from a professional artist.

Pinot & Picasso is bringing paint and party sessions to Liverpool, with a dedicated studio and bar in the Baltic Triangle.

Each session is themed, so you could have the chance to do a portrait of your partner or your pet, or maybe a landscape or still life. And there are neon night sessions where the lights are turned off and it’s UV lit so the paint glows in the dark.

It’s a fun experience, not like a formal lesson, everyone gets to take home their own artwork at the end and they often discover a talent they never knew they had!

Studio manager Amelia Penny says the way the sessions are taught means people are easily able to create something they’re proud of.

“I get emails from people asking, ‘will I be able to do this?’ but everything we put out is doable, we can teach it, so once they start they’ll often surprise themselves.

“It could be the first time they’ve painted since they were at school so they’ll come for a bit of fun, thinking they’ll just give it a go, but then they’ll get really focused. As the session goes on it’s lovely to see everyone standing up one by one and getting really into it.”

The Pinot & Picasso concept launched in Australia in 2019 – there are now more than 70 studios there – and first came over to the UK last summer, opening in Shoreditch in London and then Brighton.

The Liverpool studio, on Norfolk Street in the Baltic, became the third one in this country in November last year.

Amelia joined after graduating with a fine art degree from Liverpool Uni and taking a year out to do hospitality management. She was doing a masters in exhibition studies when she spotted the concept was coming to the city and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to combine her skills and teach people to paint.

“I’d seen similar pop-ups before but nowhere that’s an actual physical studio with a bar in it, where people can come and paint, and have a drink so it’s the whole experience,” she says.

Sessions currently run every Thursday to Sunday, midweek from 6pm to 9pm, two on Saturdays in the afternoon and 7pm to 10pm, and a Sunday afternoon one. Each one has a different theme and lasts between two and three hours.

“Fruit and plants are always really popular, we have a limoncello one which everyone wants, on Sundays we usually do something lighter and relaxed, so maybe a landscape, and on Saturday nights it’s a bit more of a party atmosphere.”

All materials are included, so canvas, easel, paint brushes, and paints, and Amelia creates an example painting for each theme so artists know what they’re aiming towards.

Pinot & Picasso works with a group of artists with different specialities who run the sessions. They will set up their easel at the front of the studio and then go through the painting one element at a time. Another member of the team goes around checking everyone’s OK and offering extra hints and help if they’re needed.

The bar is there for drinks and people are free to bring their own snacks along, or even get food delivered to the studio.

Amelia says although it’s only been going for a few months, it’s already proving hugely popular especially with groups of friends or for celebrations, with all ages having a go.

“We’ve had lots of hen parties and birthday parties, or just friends who come together, because I think people are looking for things to do rather than just going out for a drink and you get to take something away at the end.”

The studio holds up to 34 people, larger parties can do an entire venue takeover, and there will be pop-up collaborations happening around Liverpool soon too.

The first one will be a Rolling Stones theme at the Arts Bar Baltic on March 26 where artists will be replicating the iconic tongue artwork, there’ll be a Stones playlist and welcome cocktail included.