By 9 p.m. on Friday, the cafes and bars around Varnava Square were packed. The same was true of the sidewalks on the surrounding streets, where tables had spilled outdoors and ice-cold beers were already being served. Walking along Eftychidou Street and turning left onto Astydamantos Street, however, we found ourselves enjoying our drinks not at one of the neighborhood bars, but at the Art of Enea painting studio.
Artist and painting instructor Enea Guzja is one of the few people in central Athens who runs a studio and organizes “Drink and Draw” sessions.
“It was actually the idea of one of my students,” he recalled. “At the time, I was still working in my first studio, a tiny 16-square-meter space on a rooftop in Vyronas. While we were painting, she said, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have a glass of wine while we paint?’ She had seen it abroad – it’s quite common in countries like the Netherlands.”
As we descended the stairs into the studio, one of the first things we noticed – besides the easels, portraits, and still-life composition waiting to be drawn – was a large wooden table covered in paints that had been turned into an improvised bar. Gradually, participants who had reserved a spot via Instagram began to arrive.
