Corks and Canvas Events

As someone who paints as a hobby, I was delightfully surprised at their event up at Matthews Winery. Now, I’m not saying that I’m an expert or anything when it comes to painting because that is so not the case at all. But because I have my own set of tools and paint at home, I would never dream of paying $ 40+ for something I could just do for free.
Going off on that, I am super glad I went to their event this week! Not only was it free (friend’s brother bought the tickets through a Groupon deal) but it was also very relaxing and fun. The instructor, Tal, was extremely nice, patient, and super witty. He also handled the early drunkards very well. As for the wine, I didn’t drink too much — turns out I don’t like wine haha. The group I sat with that night most likely played a big role in my experience as well — we all got to know each other, talked about life, and laughed at each other’s «masterpieces». We all had a good time (:
My only issues are the price and limited session schedules. My friend and I waited about 3 months before we found a painting we liked. The lighting was also pretty dim, but that’s more due to the venue than the event itself.

I had so much fun, I went to the xmas tree paining class in snoqualmie, the teacher who is also an art teacher for children was amazing, her energy and positive feedback was so genuine and great. It made my art work turn out so good, I gave it away as a holiday gift and is STILL up on the wall in their home. (even though it is for xmas).
I will come back again. she was wonderful and her assistant was kind too.
Info about the snoqualmie location:
it does get crowded and loud, but with an awesome instructor like the one I had, it makes no difference, she comes to you and works her way around the table, showing you techniques and generously gives compliments on your work.
FANTASTIC! :)

This was my first C&C event, and had heard about the event through Groupon. I attended an event at Jimmy Mac’s in Everett about a month ago, where we painted fall trees.
The event location was pretty perfect — it was extremely close to my house (score!), and lots of parking. Furthermore, the space for the painting event was away from the busy side of the restaurant and had amble lighting. I went to a competitor’s paint event last night, and C&C events are better — the instruction for the painting is superior (in my experience), and their events include a drink!
I love that everything is set up for us when we arrived — and even through the night, if we needed fresh water for our brushes or more paint, there was the event-​coordinator there to assist. Plus, at our event there was a separate instructor. Our paint instructor that night was Angela Badurka (I hope I got the spelling right) and she was amazing. She instilled confidence in us, her instruction as thorough — she even move around the space and repeated herself enough so all could hear. She made sure we were all mostly caught up to the same level of completion before she moved on.
My sister and I really enjoyed this painting event, and we scored a great deal on Groupon. We will most definitely do another C&C event in the future!

We bought a Groupon for this and I just have to say that they have been SUPER accommodating! It’s not easy getting 6 very busy women to agree on a date to paint and I just have to say that Lisa & Sarah have been extremely patient with us! Thank you!

My boyfriend and I purchased a Groupon for $ 26.50 a person that included both the painting experience and a glass of wine. This was a fantastic deal, as I’ve looked up other Groupons out there now, and they tend to be $ 30 and do not include a drink.
Some of the paintings offered are super ugly, and look like a kindergarten project, but the Groupon allowed us to select any painting we wanted, and there weren’t any «Groupon-​specific» paintings as previous reviews have stated.
The event we chose to attend was on 11÷18÷14 and located at the J. Bookwalter Tasting Studio in Woodinville. The wine from this winery was really awful, but the experience is mostly about the painting anyway, and the first glass was free anyway, so that was okay.
As a self-​proclaimed terrible artist who is only good at stick figures, the instructor made it easy for us to paint the picture, and I’m actually pretty proud of the way mine turned out! We also had a blast talking with the people around us and laughing over what terrible artists we all were. :)
The only negative aspect of the event was that we apparently chose to attend on a night that the Corks and Canvas team got to invite their family members, who were very loud and disruptive the entire time. I think this contributed to the fact that the end of the event was pretty rushed as we went over the designated time. This caused the instructor to very quickly explain how to draw the light posts in the picture instead of the previously nice, detailed instructions. As a result, the light posts are by far the ugliest part of my picture.
I would love to go back if there was another Groupon; however, there’s no way I would pay $ 50 for this experience like the website attempts to charge, given all the other similar events offered around the area for less.

Topnotch experience for anyone! Does not matter if your a great painter or never painted before you are sure p have a wonderful time!

And a good time was had by all… plus we each ended up with a great, fun painting! Attended my first Corks and Canvas event, held at Red’s Wine Bar in Kent, WA. Instructors were so fun, Red’s was cozy and pleasant. Did a great, fun painting… this was so fun, paintings turned out so well… staff was so great. I will do one of their painting/​wine events again! Maybe at a different location next time! I highly recommend it.

Purchased a Groupon with a few friends. We seriously enjoyed this experience and would highly recommend it. The teacher was fantastic, patient, and funny! The space was clean and while I’m not a wine drinker all of my friends had some and loved it. They even bought a few bottles to take home. We attended one of their classes in Kirkland.

After taking a look at the reviews posted, I decided to buy the Groupon deal offered to try this place out. But I have just found out that they don’t allow Groupon use for many of their events (about ¹⁄₃ of the events). I don’t like all of their painting options. The ones I would like to try are all excluding Groupon use. Now my Group is about to expire.
I don’t like their way of doing business. They mentioned that there were weekend events. But almost all of the weekend events exclude Groupon use. Anything that looks a little appealing to me (even those during weekdays) excludes Groupon use. What’s the point of spending time and money on something that doesn’t appeal to me? This is supposed to be about EXPERIENCE, giving people a good pleasant experience, in order to have people spread the word and come back. I just feel so cheated.
I have had experience at Palettes and Pairing at Issaquah, which is much better. They didn’t do the bait and switch deal. I might go there if I want to participate in anything like group painting events again.

What a wonderful way to spend an evening! I did this with 5 friends as a girls night and it was a blast. There were couples, friends and mom/​daughter groups at the event too — all having a great time! This is so much fun and everyone (the staff and other painters) was so friendly. I will be trying it again in the future! I only wish they had more weekend event options.

It’s a GREAT time had by ALL, so get on line and go!

I’m a huge fan! So professional and organized while fun and goofy! Such a great way to spend time with friends, co-​workers or family while meeting new people and learning to paint. Even better… You don’t need ANY experience! The gals are very informative and patient and welcome new comers who have zero artistic ability like myself! Highly recommended!

This was such a fun evening with my friends. I invited a guy friend and two gals and they all had a blast. Our paintings were all so different, but each great in it’s own way. We had wine and then ordered some appetizers and painted away. The owner Lisa was awesome as was the artist helping us paint. If you want a really fun friend evening or client event, this would be a blast. All my friends have loved it too and several have done it as team building events. I also like that they change locations and you get nice wine. I do like like the idea of just going to one of the shops that do this, but a winery or where we went Vovina Martini Bar seems so much more fun and way better choice of drinks and food.

I’ve attended two Corks and Canvas events. The first one in Kirkland I really enjoyed, however the second one in Seattle not so much. Seems very cliquey — not just the clientele, but the owners as well. The artist instructors — the first one I went to was excellent. The second one (although was a teacher by profession) seemed to have a problem communicating or clearly being able to instruct — but it also could have been the complexity of the piece. I would offer Corks and Canvas two suggestions: 1) Label the levels of the paintings (beginner, intermediate, advanced). although I understand the concept of anyone being able to do it — I do think there are still level of complexity with the paintings. 2) Owners should be more aware of their influence. The class is cliquey because the owners are cliquey. It’s not just about YOUR friends and honestly you might meet some new friends.

I have attended two Corks and Canvas events in the past year at different venues and have been pleasantly surprised both times at not only the fabulous venues, well organized events, but the talent of the artists. I am not creative or artistic at all and have come home with paintings that have made my friends and family think I am so talented! (Little do they know the secret is in the artists talent in teaching the attendees) What a nice way to get away from the rat race and enjoy an evening trying new wines and meeting new friends!

Corks and Canvas is one of the best events and companies out there! I have been going to the various venues since they started two years ago. There is nothing more fun that a chance to give your creativity a spin, taste some great wines (and get fabulous deals on bottles too) and hang with your friends. Whether you are looking for a really fun girls night out, a Saturday date night or a great team building corporate event, this is the company to go with.
Both Lisa and Stefanie are so accommodating, fitting people in and making sure that everyone has everything they need throughout the night.
Check out the calendar at
. You can choose by venue or the painting. Sign up is easy through paypal…

Wow I guess I’m in the minority here.
So my friend decided to organize a girl’s night. 4 of us bought tickets to an event and the day before, with no explanation, 3 of us get an email from the CFO saying the event has been cancelled. It also said «I will offer you group a bottle of wine for the inconvenience.»
Unfortunately, we couldn’t all reschedule together. 2 of the girls went first and the person didn’t know anything about the bottle of wine and just handed them some random half-​opened bottle.
After this, my friend and I rescheduled and we mentioned that our friends didn’t get the wine and wanted to clarify that we were each receiving a bottle of wine. She said they were giving us a total of one bottle of wine. I said t we were going separately so is everyone getting a ¼ bottle instead?
We emailed bad and forth and I had to communicate everything my friend wanted to say to her because for some reason, my friend never got any emails from her. The CFO would say we were registered, then send me another email after telling me she was doing us a favor.
In her words: «I just want you to understand that I said in my earlier email I will give your group a bottle of wine but I’m going to honor your request and give you each
a bottle when you come to check in.»
Looking back at the email, let’s be honest: poor grammar made that email super confusing. I can see why she saw it as one bottle for our group though. It was made harder because we were separated but we just couldn’t make it all together! The whole thing was so awkward and honestly, probably a miscommunication.
I arrived the day of and the CFO introduced herself and said she had been emailing me. I guess she said something to my friend as well.
The actual event was really fun.
She asked at the beginning of people if they wanted a change of water for our paint brushes. I didn’t need it then but I asked her later and her response was «didn’t you hear me earlier?»
There was a break at one point so I went to try a wine. I drank the sample but didn’t like it. I said «thank you» and the lady who poured it scowled at me for not buying it. (This was at APEX winery.) I seriously was considering it but I just didn’t like it!
So my friend had bought a bottle there for us to share. We filled up our glasses and then we were finished painting, we went outside to take a group photo. We left our full glasses at the table, came back and our wine was gone. I asked the lady who was giving the samples if she took the glasses away and she said «no I only take empty glasses away!!» To this day, I’m not sure where our wine went. Ironically, it wasn’t even our free bottle (which we did receive).
Eventually we were ushered out and we felt much more comfortable. The activity of the painting is actually really fun, but the sudden cancellation, confusion (Which I understand from both sides) and the rude wine-​server ultimately made it an awkward night. I loved the event but I will have to try another company because I felt so uncomfortable the whole night.

My friend and I were excited to go to the upcoming event on ²⁄₂₃. On 1/​26, I online registered for 2 spots. I never got a call back or confirmation, so I called back on ²⁄₂ to confirm, at which time I spoke to Lisa and she said she’d sent an email to my friend. Anyways, we’d decided on ²⁄₁₀ to invite our significant others along and requested to add 2 people. On 2/​11, we were emailed back that they would squeeze us in. However, a full 7 days later, on ²⁄₁₉ 6:28 PM, the week of our event (four days before), we get a message that says only «Unfortunately we are over sold on this event and cannot add two more guests. Sorry, Lisa Cryder CFO».
I was really looking forward to this event. I have gone to another one by a similar company and had an amazing time. I emailed Lisa, as I’ve sent her the emails that show we’ve already confirmed, and she apologized and called. Apparently, her computer died and she lost everything. I was impressed at how quickly she resolved the issue and called back to verify I got the email.
This event was at a winery in Woodinville. When I arrived and checked in, I was told the owner wanted to make sure I got an envelope. In it was a gift certificate for a free class. Impressive follow up.
Our first glass of wine was included and there were hot and cold appetizers to nibble on. Yum! It was a very full event, likely because of the fried computer. But once everyone got their seats, I felt like I had enough room to be comfortable.
We were making Blossoms in Moonlight. The instruction was good and the atmosphere was light. The instructor came around to make sure everyone was following and to answer any questions.
The paintings we made were beautiful and turned out to be a look into our personalities. Either with lots of branches, fewer branches and blossoms, and coloring, we had something that we could be proud to hang on our walls. What a fun event!

I am NOT an artist. That all changed when I attended a Corks and Canvas event at Apex Winery in Woodinville. After 2 hours of patient instruction from Angela H. and a couple glasses of Cab, I left with a beautiful piece of art ready to be hung on my wall. Now, I have a wall full of art that my husband and I have both created while attending Corks and Canvas events in several locations. My husband and I have a new hobby now and something we can do together. What a great ‘date night’ idea! It’s also a great way for the girls to get together and reconnect. Stephanie Hare and Lisa Cryder pioneered something SO relaxing, interactive, and entertaining that NO one else can match. Thanks Ladies!

This is an awesome event company, where the main goal is to «Uncork your creativity!»
At Corks and Canvas Events, you will enjoy easy step-​by-​step painting instructions, fun music, and a little Washington wine for inspiration. Everyone leaves with a masterpiece, and it’s especially perfect for girl’s night out, bridal showers, birthday parties, team building, book clubs, and yes, even men and the artistically challenged!
When you’re at an event (which are held in various venues in Seattle, Kirkland, and Woodinville,) the great and enthusiastic hosts supply the materials and instruction while you supply your sense of adventure, creativity and your love of wine — and it’s all for only $ 45.
I highly recommend that you grab your friends and sign up today! You can do it online at