The corks are popped, the wine glasses polished. Brushes are lined up in neat rows. Canvases are poised in waiting. Pop on Sinatra, and all is ready to go.

It’s Saturday night in Clarinda, and the next session of wining and painting is about to begin at Painting Barn Studio, the area’s contribution to the latest artistic social gathering craze.

“It’s just a great time of music and wine, and some painting,” says Curtis Hamm, one of the studio owners along with Yulia Hilton.

The Sip & Paint concept began in New Orleans in 2007. After losing their homes and businesses to Hurricane Katrina, two entrepreneurial women found a way to help their friends and neighbors de-stress, while making a return on their investment. The business expanded to four locations and 182 franchises, and spawned hundreds of independent ventures patterned after the Louisiana version.

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