Muse Paintbar

Purple and Yellow Floral Easels

Purple: 357 pieces  |  Unbranded: 7329

Yellow: 368 pieces  |  Unbranded: 7328

Assembled by Mike Alfare, February 2025

Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)

May 18, 2023

To mix things up a little, Sarah had the idea of going to Muse Paintbar in Richmond for a date one spring weeknight. Sarah had been to a paint night there before, but it was a new experience for Hunter. Neither are very talented when it comes to painting, but the paint nights are generally set up so that anyone can follow along with the instructor and expect reasonable success. Sarah has painted lovely portraits of her cat, Dink, and her late dog, Ryder, so she felt confident that she would have fun with it, and knew Hunter would have fun no matter what, if he were hanging out with her. The theme of their night was painting a red-hued sunset over a lake bordered by forests. No problem, right? Things started smoothly enough, but by the time the instructor was speeding them along to paint the trees bordering the lake, Sarah was struggling. Hunter was painting his happy little trees, and Sarah couldn't seem to get her trees to look like a wildfire hadn't just charred them. Things got more challenging for them both when it was time to paint the reflection of the sunset into the surface of the lake. Sarah couldn't get the brush technique right and was smearing red paint onto the lake, making it look like ketchup. Hunter's reflection of the sunset made it look like there were pizzas floating on top of the water. Sarah disliked her painting so much that she ended up leaving it behind when they wrapped up the project. They kept Hunter's, fondly dubbed "Pizza Lake," and still get a good laugh out of it. The painting fell behind a shelf in his room over a year ago, and neither of them has retrieved it. It's enough to know it's there, but they don't need to look at it every day.

---

Pizza Lake

Hunter looking adorable while working on a paint-by-numbers kit of a lighthouse. Sarah was really into paint-by-numbers when they began dating, but Hunter was decidedly less into it. This was the only time he ever worked on it.

Sarah may have disliked her painting of a sunset on the lake that she did with Hunter, but she went to another paint night with her friend, Vanessa, shortly after. They painted a field of wildflowers with thick trees and mountains in the distance, and Sarah liked her artwork much better this time. Hunter has it hanging in his office at work.