GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Alaina Turner opened the door to her art studio, on Alpine Street in Grand Rapids, with a smile on her face Tuesday.
She welcomed in the FOX 17 Unfiltered crew, ready to show off her new space.
To her, this local location of Painting with a Twist is all about offering the community a place for them to socialize and release some stress.
After all, Turner herself turned to art when she needed a mental break from the military.
Turner spent 24 years in the United States Air Force, working in many different areas like maintenance, electronics, avionics and more.
"Definitely not painting," she joked.
Although, the interest was always there. So, while she was stationed in Florida, she took up a part-time job as an artist with Painting with a Twist, the nation's largest and original paint-and-sip studio.
"I walked in the door and it was like it didn't matter how stressful my day was," Turner said. "Once I walked through that door, it was like, 'Alright, we're gonna have fun tonight.'”
She said art can be an outlet for anyone, and that's part of the reason she wanted to open up a studio in her home state.
"I think it forces you to stop and see things differently," she said. "You let go and you work through things in your mind and your body. Your body carries a lot of that stress. When you're painting, you're you're focusing on doing something, you're creating something, which I think just activates something in you that, you know, it's a stress relief. Then at the end of it, you know, you get to take home something that, 'Oh, wow. Hey, I finished that. I made that. That's amazing!'"
You can learn more about Turner's studio, and join an event or schedule a private party by clicking on this link.