Thank you!

YOU are the reason we do what we do!  

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This week is a time of thanks.  I think if most of us came to each week with a heart of thanks, the world would be a better place.  I want each of you to know that I am thankful for each of you.  I am thankful to those of you that attend and tag us each time.  I am thankful for those of you who started off as customers and have become friends, sounding boards, advice givers, and soul encouragers.  You will never know how much it means when you can tell I am having a rough day to see a positive message in my inbox, to get the email that says you appreciate what we do and have brought to your life, to get a good review, to be tagged in funny memes.


I am thankful for each of the people who have worked for me over the years, the ones that have left, and obviously the ones who have stayed.  We have a good thing going, we love our painters, and we try to think of ways to make even our critics happy. ​

I never imagined I would be doing this in the way it has developed.  I had a business plan, I dream a lot, I imagine the future but if when I opened you would have told me we are where we are now I would have laughed.  I remember looking at the little space I found and thinking if I can just get x amount of people here a month I can pay my bills.  And some months that didn’t happen.  I had made a commitment though and I kept going, sinking more money in.  And it is worth it and I am grateful for all that it has been and all that it is, and for whatever it becomes.


I am thankful for my husband who believed in me or at least pretended to when he didn’t.  He was the only person that never looked at me like I was crazy when I first started out.  He is the one who encouraged me to go to the bank and get a loan, who didn’t expect me to make money at first, who let me cry when the days were hard, who encouraged me to get out of bed when I went there to hide and wallow.  Lots of people have been there for the celebrations, not as many for the disappointments.


I am thankful for my son, because it isn’t easy being the kid of a business owner.  He gets told no a lot.  He has to be pro-active and self sufficient a lot.  But I know ultimately that will serve him well.  He will have seen both sides.  The ups and downs of working in corporate America through his dad’s journey and the ups and downs of working for yourself through my journey.  I hope whatever he chooses he knows we worked hard, we played hard, and we loved hard. ​

Photo credit Mary Beth Wood Photography

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I haven’t always made the best decisions (I had never managed anyone or owned anything like this before opening), but I have also made some really great decisions.  We have a team I am proud of, who continue to improve, who love what they do.  That made all the difference!  Knowing to hire people that aren’t like me, aren’t always the obvious choice has been amazing.  I know I am not for everyone, but I know amongst the staff there is someone you (yes YOU, whoever you are) will connect with and be able to learn from and enjoy.
So thank you!  We have grown from a one woman show to a multi-woman show with a delightful and silly and creative cast of characters. We would love to paint with you, inspire you, build you up, make you laugh, teach you.  Thank YOU!   
If you ever feel like you don’t belong, that you are missing something, that you just need to add a little fun in your life, that you are struggling with life…  I hope you will come visit us and see my many reasons to be grateful.