Courtesy Saratoga Business Journal
By Rod Bacon
A local entrepreneur has put a new spin on the paint-and-sip concept by opening Saratoga Paint & Drip Studio, a venue that offers people a creative outlet without the alcohol.
“My business model is based around painting and a whole lot of other things but not alcohol,” said owner Ryan Smithson. “What we’re doing here is catering to the sober community, people who don’t drink or don’t want to be pressured to drink while attending our sessions.”
There is a full no-alcohol bar offering mocktails, java drinks and other beverages that is run by Joe Ventura, one of Smithson’s two business partners. Ventura, who ran Eat-In Cafe in Loudonville, relocated to Saratoga Springs when the opportunity to partner with Smithson presented itself. In keeping with the Hawaiian theme of the venue the bar is named the Ohana A.F. Tiki Bar and Lounge.
“Ohana means ‘family’ in Hawaiian and the ‘A.F.’ stands for Alcohol Free,” Smithson explained.
Smithson’s other business partner is Violet Glasser, a U.S. Army veteran who served in Desert Storm as a medic. Smithson served in Iraq as an engineer.
“She’s the studio queen,” said Smithson. “She does anything and everything; event planning, invoicing clients, moving things around in the studio, whatever we need done”
She is also an artist and teaches many of the classes offered at Paint & Drip.
Smithson purchased the Paint & Sip business at 8 Henry Street in December from Catherine Hover, who operated the business for almost 14 years.
He became an artist via a very circuitous route. While earning a degree in English at Hudson Valley Community College he wrote an essay that his professor encouraged him to expand into a book. That was published in 2009 by Harper Collins and he later earned a master’s degree in English.
“I was a writer for a long time,” he said. “That was my prior artistic life.”
During Covid he got into making art with butterfly wings, which he got at a conservatory in Deerfield, Massachusetts. He explained that while butterflies were allowed to live full lives they don’t live long. When they died conservatory staffers collected the wings for sale to artists. Smithson’s first project was a dancer to hang up in his daughter’s bedroom. When he met Glasser she encouraged him to continue and he started selling his work at venues like Saratoga Art in the Park. After he met Hover he expanded into acrylic painting, which in turn led to his purchasing her business.
While Paint & Drip is a non-alcoholic venue they do hold events off-site. Evenings at places like The Parting Glass, Ravenswood Pub, and Bandstand Brew Works have been very popular.
They also have theme nights where people may participate if they choose. They have had karaoke, paint-and-popcorn movie nights, and a dueling artist paint-off. Future evenings will feature a Marvel versus DC paint-off to coincide with Comicon weekend in May, and a paint-and-yoga evening at a local hot yoga spot.
Smithson supports non-profits either through direct contributions or by giving a portion of an evening’s revenue to the organization. Currently, he is helping Best Buddies, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Art4Vets, and Lives Made Easier.
Hours are still in flux, but for now they are open Wednesday with karaoke 6 p.m.-8 p.m.; Thursday 6 p.m.-8 p.m. with a date night or off-site evening at another venue; Friday 6 p.m.-8 p.m.; Saturday there might be an afternoon class as well as 6 p.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 2 p.m.-4 p.m. For now they are closed Monday and Tuesday but that may change and offer after school hours to students at no charge.
The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting on March 17.