Center Moriches’ Lucharitos will host its first Reindeer Paint Party on Sunday, Dec. 21, giving local residents an opportunity to create holiday-themed art in the café’s private space while enjoying food and drinks.
Registration is open for Very Lucha-DEER Holiday Paint Night, scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. at 177 Main St.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said General Manager Hannah Lavarco. “We have a private space that we’ll be doing it in, learning painting techniques and having someone offering our foods and drinks.”
The goal, she said, “is to bring people in and have the community come out and have something different for everyone around here to do without having to go so far from home.”
The Reindeer Paint Party will take place in the holiday-decorated café, where guests can enjoy food and beverages, including margaritas, in a paint-and-sip setting. The event will include all art materials, goodie bags, and a chance to win a door prize: a snowman mug with hot cocoa.
While this is the first such event at the Center Moriches location, it follows the success of similar parties at Lucharitos at Station Yards in Ronkonkoma, Lavarco said.
Shelly Vecchio, owner of Holtsville-based paint party organizer Gogh Radiance, said the events are designed for all skill levels.
“All the canvases unless requested come pre-traced. I hand-trace the design on all the canvases. That way any level painter can come and have a good time and not stress out about how to do it,” she said. “We’ve had people who have never gone to paint nights before.”
With step-by-step instructions, most participants complete their work during the two-hour event, although some stay longer.
“Like me, I love to keep tweaking the painting. It’s a really fun process,” Vecchio said.
Vecchio launched her mobile paint party business in September.
“I’ve been painting and drawing and into art my entire life. I just started in September doing mobile paint parties. It was always in my mind to do. I found myself, unfortunately, laid off and thought it was time to try,” she said.
She said participants have responded positively, describing the events as relaxing and “easier than they thought.”
In addition to parties, Vecchio offers well-being paint nights with meditation or sound bath activities, along with corporate events and fundraisers.
In the new year, she will host a morning paint-and-coffee session at Toast Coffee & Kitchen, 650 Route 112 in Point Jefferson Station. Participants will paint a sunflower with a coffee mug on a supplied canvas. The event is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7.
Tickets are available for both events. Contact Vecchio at radicalradiancecoaching@gmail.com, 631-514-5641, or on Facebook at Facebook.com/Shellyvecchio.
Tickets are $35 for the Reindeer Paint Party and $45 for the Toast Coffee & Kitchen event.