Nestled amid a row of stores and businesses with bland facades stands a vibrant door painted with every spectrum of the color wheel: You can’t miss the entrance to iCreate.
The eccentric new art studio in Vienna caters to nonartists, with an array of beginner-friendly creative classes — including an option to aim BB guns and throw water balloons filled with nontoxic paint at your canvas.
“I call it chaotic therapy,” says founder Erkin Jan, who opened the business last fall. “I say that everyone is an artist, with the right mindset.”
Until a few months ago, Jan was the manager at his family’s Uyghur-Turkish restaurant. After a few years, he opened his unconventional art studio because his artistic bent felt unserved by the area’s offerings, such as the popular “sip and paint” lessons at bars. “I wanted something artistic with no learning curve,” Jan says.
I registered for two options, scarf dipping and a blank canvas, while Emily, our magazine photographer, signed up to paint a teddy bear sculpture she could take home to her elementary school–aged kids. Able to select three colors for each, I chose black, yellow, and gold for the canvas and white, burgundy, and red for the scarf. Emily chose blue, green, and orange for her bear.
The first order of business was to tie on smocks so the paint splatters wouldn’t ruin our clothes. Second was to pick music for the speaker system. Matching the artistic theme, I selected neo-soul song “Colors” by the Black Pumas.
From there, Jan guided us through the step-by-step directions. For the canvas, I mixed the thick paints with a thinner until they resembled runny syrup. Once the paints were ready, I poured them on the canvas and flipped it around until the colors covered the whole rectangle.
For the scarf, the paints were swirled into a thickening agent comprising water, aloe, and seaweed. We dipped the scarf into the liquid, then folded it “accordion style” at the end. Visiting in mid-January, the scarf was a welcome addition to my winter wardrobe.
After we finished, we mixed our hands in the paint (while wearing latex gloves) to leave handprints on the wall alongside hundreds of other customers. Maybe I’m not famous enough to leave handprints at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, but this felt close enough. iCreate: 8453 Tyco Rd., Ste. L, Vienna
Feature image by Emily Campos
This story originally ran in our March Issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
