The Station wine bar and coffee shop hosted its second ever wood-burning workshop May 20. The event was hosted by local tattoo artist Jeana Jane and welcomed members of the community for an evening of wine and creative expression.
The sold-out workshop was reserved by a large group of eager learners and art enthusiasts. Attendees were served a glass of wine upon arrival and were given hands-on guidance from the instructor. The group was provided with blocks of wood, stencils for tracing, and their own wood burners. The intent of the workshop was to embrace creativity while enjoying a glass of wine and each others’ company.
Jane held her first wood-burning workshop at The Station in April. As a regular customer at The Station herself, Jane was asked to instruct a class by the wine bar’s event coordinator. Jane said she saw this as the perfect opportunity to share with others the endless array of possibilities that come with wood burning.
“I think I wanted to teach it because of the mediums of art that I do, it’s probably the easiest to pass on to someone else and it’s also one of the cheaper things that you can craft at home,” Jane said.
Jane picked up the craft about four years ago as a hobby and soon realized it was something she had a passion for. Like tattooing, she said wood burning was another way for her to push her creative muscle.
“There is no backwards, you just have to roll with it and make it work,” she said. “I enjoy that you don’t get to erase it and that you do really have to work through whatever obstacle comes up in the moment.”
With that in mind, Jane hoped her students would go into this workshop with a similar mentality.
Lyn Matasci was one of the attendees at the event. Matasci and her two friends found out about the event through the Facebook event page and saw this as a fun opportunity to get crafty. With no prior experience, Matasci went into the workshop with only one goal in mind: to have fun.
“I’m not even talking to my friends, I’m just so concentrated,” Matasci said.
Matasci enjoyed her experience and said she might even pick up wood burning as a hobby in the future.
“This sounds really weird, but I kind like the way it feels when the wood is burning,” Matasci said. “It feels kind of therapeutic.”
While each student’s experience may have varied, Jane’s overall goal for teaching the workshop was for each student to get some sort of artistic experience.
“It would be awesome if people walked out and were like, ‘I want to go buy a wood burner and try to do other things, because I’m always interested in watching other people’s creative muscle grow,” Jane said. “But hopefully it was just a fun evening and a nice art experience and something that makes them unafraid to try other
artistic things.”
Like the wood burning workshop, The Station hosts a variety of art and music events for the San Luis Obispo community. Such events include watercolor painting, pottery and live DJ events.
According to The Station bar associate Hannah Ermisch, The Station strives to provide a community space where people can learn more about wine while having fun.
“We are really big on wine-drinking as a whole experience, and so we try to do some sort of event that matches that,” Ermisch said.
The Station’s “Art Bar” and other events have become popular within the San Luis Obispo community. Ermisch said these events serve as a “wind-down” for people.
“It gives people the opportunity to come with friends and unravel from the week or weekend and just relax,” Ermisch said. “It’s a really relaxing, therapeutic scene and I think that’s kind of what we hope to keep doing, to bring people in and let them kick back and drink.”
Jane said she also believes The Station provides a relaxing environment where people who have deemed themselves unartistic can drink a glass of wine, loosen up and have good time.
It kind of strips down some of those insecurities that we’re all taught over life that we’re not good at things,” Jane said. “It’s this really relaxing environment that lets everyone, in whatever level they’re in, to feel comfortable.”