Young attendees of an upcoming teen art night in Solvang won’t have any traditional canvases to work with but are welcome to bring their favorite—or least favorite—canvas footwear for a colorful makeover.
“We will have paints for both canvas and leather shoes, so depending on the material of your shoes, we will have participants covered,” said Maria Belle, events manager at Solvang’s Craft & Create, a brick-and-mortar space owned by local mobile studio Art Spot on Wheels.
On Thursday, Dec. 5, Craft & Create will host a crafting night for teens to decorate their shoes with paint, gems, beads, sequins, iron-on patches, and other colorful materials. The event is open to ages 12 and older.
“I anticipate the specialty paints and fun laces to be a big hit, but honestly, who doesn’t love accessories?” Belle said in an email interview. “I think the best tip would be to make sure your shoes are clean or can be wiped clean at the event. … I also think, in general, a lighter colored shoe will work better but is not necessary.”
Admission to the shoe decorating program will include pizza and soda for teen attendees to enjoy. Craft & Create will host a handful of similar DIY arts and crafts events during December, some for youth and others for adults.
The studio’s upcoming winter art camp (a five-day morning and afternoon program scheduled for Dec. 23, 30, and 31, and Jan. 2 and 3, 2025) is geared toward ages 7 to 12 and designed to accommodate children’s—and their parents’—schedules during winter break from school.
“All of our camps have similar structures but varying projects. We start the day with icebreakers and games, then do a craft project relative to the time of year,” said Belle, who noted that the upcoming winter iteration, for example, will likely highlight “crafts projects that make good gifts,” or colorful creations with holiday vibes.
“The kids love the creative freedom and responsibility given to them,” Belle said, “and we love watching them flourish and grow in their abilities.”
Every multi-day school break program, regardless of season, ends with a painting segment, Belle added.
“Each afternoon of art camps during breaks we do a guided painting of a different subject,” Belle said.
As for art events for adults, Craft & Create is planning to ring in 2025 with a different kind of ball drop as the new year approaches.
On Friday, Dec. 27, the studio will host its New Year Disco Ball Paint and Sip, a BYOB event for guests to paint their own sparkling disco ball on a wooden round.
“The only advice we would give is to come ready to have fun,” Belle said.
The benefit of having a brick-and-mortar space for Art Spot on Wheels—which periodically hosts outdoor Paint and Sip events at different vineyards across Santa Barbara County—is it allows flexibility for the studio to offer more spur-of-the-moment programs than its mobile version was used to.
“We had been dreaming of a space for tourists and locals alike to walk in and create. That was always kind of a pain point with our Art Spot business model,” Belle said. “Everything required reservations in advance and didn’t allow for spontaneous creative sessions. So we had been envisioning this space for a while and making plans, but were only casually looking for a location.”
Craft & Create opened in July when the right spot in Solvang became available, Belle explained.
“We have been wanting to open a DIY arts and crafts space since before COVID hit, and due to all the pivots and restructuring that followed, it took a little longer to make that dream a reality,” Belle said. “The location we are in actually pushed us to make our dream a reality, whether we felt we were ready or not. It is right in town, without being really in the middle of all the Solvang traffic.
“We really wanted a space that locals would be willing and able to easily access,” Belle added, “while still being part of the higher tourist foot traffic.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood wants to decorate his bowling shoes. Send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 8, 2024.