New paint-and-sip art class studio opens in Arlington

Juju B’s, a new paint-and-sip studio in Arlington, held their grand opening and ribbon cutting on July 8.

The business is at 3402 173rd Place NE, Arlington, and offers locals a place to come drink some wine while learning how to make art.

“The type of painting I do is very different than most of the other sip and paints,” said business owner Susan Simmons, who teaches “pour painting” techniques in her class.

With the technique, artists mix acrylics with a fluid medium to make them flow and then pour them onto a canvas to create abstract art pieces, usually showing many colors coming together in unique ways.

“I’ll give them instruction on how to mix their paints, and then you layer them after you mix them individually and then pour with different techniques onto your canvas,” said Simmons.

“Pour” paintings have a lot of variety in them, she said.

“It’s not like everyone is doing the exact same painting together, which is still fun, but with this type of painting you’ll be getting different outcomes,” said Simmons. “You couldn’t duplicate a painting even if you tried.”

She enjoys that aspect of the painting method.

“It’s really fun and you never know what you’re going to get,” she said.

There will be three different levels of classes for different levels of experience.

“They will get bigger canvases as they get more experienced,” said Simmons.

Class registration is available on the business website at jujubpaints.com. Classes run from Tuesday to Sunday.

“People also have the option to reserve the studio and bring in their own private party,” she said.

Currently, Simmons has the studio set up to accommodate about 28 people, although legally she can have more and that may increase in the future when she gets more comfortable, she said.

Unlike many other sip-and-paint models, Simmons hopes to maintain a studio location in Smokey Point.

“Most sip-and-paint businesses have pop ups, they usually don’t have a whole studio that people go to that’s a stable business,” she said.

The business has been open since June but Simmons said she wanted to delay her grand opening because it took longer than anticipated to get her liquor license.

“I had June 1 as my grand opening, but I put that off because I didn’t want people to be disappointed,” she said. “At least part of the reason people come in is to have a drink and relax with friends."

That issue has been taken care of now and the business has the ability to serve alcohol now.

For Simmons, “pour” painting has been a passion for a while.

“I came across this [painting technique] about four years ago. I just watched a lot of YouTube videos, bought what I needed and started doing it. At the time I would do it all day long,” she said.

She didn’t have business aspirations at that time but said she decided to start a business with her skills.

“I just wanted to do something that I love to do and get it out there,” she said.