Ignite Spotlight: The Dandy Paint Lounge

People associate painting with high art, but as Duncan Clowater of The Dandy Paint Lounge in Fredericton’s downtown is to be believed, everyone can do it.

Last month we visited Clowater’s gorgeous lounge to grab some pictures and find out how it all works.

The Dandy is a place for novices to get familiar with an unfamiliar artistic medium, and it’s also a place for pros to decompress and enjoy their craft in good company. 

Clowater claims he doesn’t have much artistic talent (don’t all artists?), and for him tracing and stencils are as much a part of the process as brush technique and colour mixing. Thus, The Dandy has stencils and tracing paper for people who need them. “I try to make it as easy as possible. That way if someone doesn’t have to have a lot of skill to come away with something they’re satisfied with.”

Although anyone can come to the lounge and buy a canvas, one of the most popular painting surfaces turns out to be vinyl records. Clowater has clock hands on hand, so that anyone who wants to paint a clock design can have a working clock within a few minutes of their paint drying.

When customers finish painting, they’re invited to use their unused paint to add to a “community painting,” a big artwork (in the photo above) created by all The Dandy’s customers.

The Dandy Paint Lounge is popular for birthday parties during the day, and dates during the evening, and, with a huge diversity of painting tools and workshops from visiting experts, it’s a perfect place to learn more about an artistic medium that figures centrally in Fredericton’s art scene.

Check out The Dandy Paint Lounge on Mazzuca's lane, between the Tannery and York St, just around the corner from Jack's Pizza!