Purple Easel — Local services in Ontario

June 2017 Sign up is easy, on-line, in person or over the phone. Show up with a smile, everything painting-wise is provided, however, wine and snacks are up to you. Spend a few hours painting, go home with your own painting and you do not clean up after yourself! That’s the part I like the best. Located East of the Ontario Mills Outlet Mall, and South of 4th Street, the building backs up the I-15 freeway, and faces the Mall parking lot. Adequate parking is in a long, skinny parking lot just South of the building. The parking lot is lit at nite, although I would like to see a bit more lighting, not everyone is a 6’-4” dude. For specific directions, I’ll let the reader use Google maps or nav-tech of choice. Anyone remember where your Thomas Guide is? After parking and gathering up your wine, plastic wine glasses, and snacks, it’s a short walk to the entrance facing Rochester Ave., just past the purple bench out front. There is a desk just inside the front door and staff wearing purple aprons (of course) will welcome you, help you check in, give you your canvas, and direct you to the correct room. There are 2 painting areas, a large room in back that seats about 80, and a smaller room to the right that seats about 30-ish. Both rooms have high ceilings and a raised dais where the instructor leads you through the painting process. There are also live cams with big BIG screens for the folks in the back of the rooms. The instructor wears a mic, with good voice quality, so hearing the instructions has never been an issue for my past middle-age ears. The Men’s and Women’s bathrooms are clean and decorated tastefully in a way that’s appropriate for a place that is all about painting and the “joy of painting” (those of you that visit will see what I mean…). Grab an apron from the hooks on the back wall and find a place to sit. The seat is open if there is no canvas on the easel. There are easels (purple easels…. I’m sensing a pattern here….), for each guest, (that’s you!). Cop a squat, place your canvas in the easel, open the wine, pour a glass, take a sip and relax. Classes start on time most of the time, they may wait a few minutes for folks who are running behind if there are a lot of empty places around the room. The instructor will walk you thru everything, just follow the sound of their voice and enjoy the show! !!!PRO TIPS!!!

1. Bring plastic wine glasses, not glass, the floors are all concrete. The plastic ones without stems are the smart choice here. They look way nicer than ball-park-beer-plastic-cups and are durable enuf for repeated use. We bought ours at the supermarket in the “picnic supplies” aisle. Bonus Tip! Plastic wine glasses take well to the acrylic paint, and the paint dries quickly, giving you something to do while you wait for the class to start if you got there early.
2. Speaking of getting there early, do get there about 30 minutes early if you have specific seats you like. The rooms have some cubbys along the perimeter walls, and if you brought food, that is where you are likely to set up, not at your spot with the easel. Space on the tables where the easels are is sparse! Once you have an easel, your paints, your brushes, your palate and your autographed picture of Bob Ross (just kidding) to inspire you, even finding a spot for your (plastic) wine glass can be tough, let alone a cheese and cracker tray from Ralph’s.
3. Speaking of food, limiting the snack choices to low-odor, non-noisy will be silently appreciated by everyone else in the room. Avoid the sticky or greasy finger foods, you will be touching your painting alot and BBQ sauce may LOOK like burnt sienna, but it won’t play well with the titanium white.
4. Wear your painting clothes, they provide aprons, however the probability that you will still get paint on your shoes and clothes increases exponentially with the value of the clothing. We wear jeans and t-shirts mostly.
5. Don't forget to get your "points" for the class when you check in....

I first heard of Purple Easel through a living social deal. It was a buy one get one free type of thing in which it said painting and BYOB. I thought for the price it would be worth it to check it out and I'm so glad I did!!! It is soooo awesome that I have been back multiple times with my mom and husband.

When you arrive they give you everything you need for the entire night of painting. They have someone who teaches you how to mix the paints and paint your masterpiece step by step. It is amazing how wonderful everyone's painting turned out. It doesn't even matter if you are good at art or not. The simple instructions from great staff members make it possible. I currently have all of my art work hanging on the wall.

A few tips:

the longer the class is the harder the painting. Try starting out with a 2 hour one. Make sure you bring lots of snack and drinks (alcoholic or not) Wear clothes that you don't mind if you get a little paint on because it doesn't come out Bring a plastic bag or something you can lay your painting on in the car. Sometimes the sides are still wet and you don't want to get it on...

I came for a private sip and paint birthday party! The staff were warm and inviting. Jake was our instructor. He was great and very patient as well professional. This was about a two and half hour class. You are encouraged to bring your finger food and drinks. Since this was a birthday day party, we had wine and fruit. There is also public classes available to reserve a spot. For a private class you will need ten people. When we arrived, they everything already set up for us. All of the easels were set with canvases, the colors for painting your masterpiece, water to clean your brushes, aprons, color mixing board and several different sizes of paint brushes. Jake guided us through every aspect of creating our masterpieces. They played great music while you create your masterpiece. This atmosphere is so relaxing. There is free parking, bathroom and a sink to wash your hands. I recommend having your next gathering here. Birthdays,...