A recent paint-and-sip night that was meant to be a fun time devolved into an evening of stress upon the arrival of one Sheila Cook, the group’s professional artist friend.
To say the attendance of a professional visual artist at a casual drinking event disguised as an amateur painting class shook the other attendees to their core is an understatement.
“The spirit of wine and paint night is to get shit-faced and paint something that ends up being bad,” said Helen Davidson, who attends the event monthly. “If you show up and paint something actually good, you’re basically waging war with all the people who came to have fun. Real artists shouldn’t occupy this safe space for bad painters.”
“Wine and paint night is the only night of the month I get to myself,” says Gabby Trivalli, another regular at the event. “But now that Sheila has decided to oh-so-innocently ‘tag along’, I’m feeling threatened. I mean, what, she’s actually going to leave with a quality painting? That’s just not what this night’s about.”
While these women have been vocal that Sheila should remain blacklisted from the event, others are looking forward to Sheila joining in on the fun.
“I invited her! Sheila is so nice and will be a great addition to the group,” says Vera Hernandez, a consistent wine and paint night attendee. “She’s in my book club and always has something thoughtful to say.”
But after being reminded that Sheila is a professional painter whose work has been shown in various galleries, Vera’s brows furrowed and she quickly pulled out her phone.
“Oh my god, I’ve made a huge mistake,” she said, frantically typing. “I have to tell her the night is canceled.”
Even the art instructor of the event, Tim Danello, has encouraged the group to exclude anyone with any real painting experience from the event.
“I just don’t think it makes sense to invite a professional artist to wine and paint night,” says Tim. “That bitch can paint really well! I’m not interested in having someone there who may know more about art than me.”
Sources confirm Sheila was has been practicing her brushstrokes all week.
