Painting with a Twist

Anyone who knows me knows I’m addicted to the paint studio classes that Pittsburgh has to offer. Painting With A Twist, though a national chain, is probably the most well known paint studio business in the area. They have many locations throughout the city, and since each location offers a different calendar of paintings I’ve found that sometimes I like to visit different PWAT establishments so I can bring home a design that really appeals to me. But while I’m a definite die-​hard fan of my local PWAT branch, I have to admit the one in Wexford didn’t impress me quite as much as the one I usually visit.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this location is horrible or anything like that. While their location feels smaller than the one I frequent, it does have plenty of room for its attendees, and it’s divided into two areas so multiple classes or parties can be hosted at once. The staff are very polite and they had everything ready to go when the other painters and I arrived. And as I’ve come to expect, they play music here and try to check in with the painters periodically during a class, just to make sure that you’re heading in the right direction and that you’re having fun.
So why 3 stars? While I liked painting here well enough, a few of the elements I’ve come to expect from a PWAT class were missing, and those extra tidbits make a big difference in one’s experience. For example, we never played games during my class here; they made no mention of a frequent flyer card here, either, which is something the PWAT I normally visited has plugged quite a bit. And to be honest, while the Wexford PWAT staff did go around the room a couple times to help people, I didn’t find them quite as helpful or reassuring as the PWAT staff I normally work with. Not a big deal for some, but I’m an admitted perfectionist. Reassurance is something I admittedly need during a painting class. Speaking of admitting things, I admittedly wasn’t 100% happy with my painting at the end of the night, and I think a few other people in my class left feeling the same way. Honestly this is the first time I’m considering returning for an SOS consort to fix my painting and make it more presentable. I felt like I missed a step during the process and that mistake never got corrected. As a result, I left with a painting that is not nearly as serene or pretty as I’d hoped it would be (and again, I’ve worked with PWAT before, so I have an idea of what my work tends to look like after a class — I’m not the type to have crazy expectations for the final product!).
To be clear, I am by no means saying this PWAT is terrible. I would rate them at a 3.5 if I could. I mean, I’ve seen the photos on their Facebook pages from other classes. Based on the results there there are clearly plenty of classes and people that don’t experience what I did. But I can only write about my personal thoughts, and compared to the amazing PWAT experience that I’m used to, the one I had here kind of paled in comparison — and the fact that I still don’t consider my painting complete or good looking just yet is certainly something I’m not super happy about. After weighing the good and the bad, my rating for my night here is a solid «a-​ok.» Hopefully though this location is still growing and finding its stride, and the lackluster experience that I had was just due to an off night!