We went to Santorini

My girl and I had so much fun at the Wine and Paint class last night. She had given me a gift certificate for the class for my birthday, and last night we redeemed it. Smart girl, she knew the best part of the gift for me was the chance to do the class with her. She brought the wine, a rose and a Malbec. Even when she's kidding around, she can't help but present the bottle as a sommelier would—our education dollars at work, haha.

The walls of the studio walls were filled with paintings from other classes, everything from Georgia O'Keefe's poppy to sailboats to Monet's garden to a portrait of the studio owner's pet. We had chosen to paint a scene from Santorini, Greece. The deep blues and crisp whites appealed to us. Our teacher assured us she taught kindergarten by day, and so was well equipped to lead us through the stages of making the painting while we drank wine."Just one thing," she implored. "Be sure to rinse your brushes in your water jar and not in your wine glass. Every class, it happens."

We got really giggly at certain points, such as when the paint brush seemed to want to go its own way, despite our teacher's very detailed paint-by-numbers approach to mixing colors and covering the canvas, section by section, and building up detail in layers.

We did all end up with paintings that  resembled the master, though I see sections in my own painting that I'm itching to correct. Maybe I'll get some acrylics and set up one of our kids' vacated rooms as a paint studio! I still have an easel in storage somewhere.

The finished product, and two very happy painters. My daughter is the best traveling companion. She has such a bright spirit. Thank you, my darling girl, for the most wonderful of evenings. I'm so on board with your proposal that we do it again soon.