After opening this spring at 7463 Girard Ave. (behind D.G. Wills bookstore), nationwide creative studio Board & Brush is making a home in La Jolla.
The local studio, run by La Jolla residents Doug Vocelle and Sam Grissom, offers instructor-led art projects — mostly on wooden boards — in the form of home decorations, serving trays, signs and more.
To learn more, the La Jolla Light posed the following questions to Vocelle:
Q. When did your business start? Who founded it? What is its mission?
A. Board & Brush was founded by Julie Selby and started as a neighborhood holiday party making wood signs in her basement in December 2014. It quickly turned into a successful business model, opening the first studio in March 2015 in Hartland, Wis. Flash forward to today and there are over 250 studios in 43 states as well as Canada and Japan.
Q. What services do you offer?
A. We offer instructor-led [do-it-yourself] workshops working mainly with wood to create inspirational signs, trays, boxes, planters, trivets, coat racks and so much more. There are over 800 different projects to choose from. We also offer specialty workshops for doormats and totes. Our corporate creative team is constantly adding new and exciting options for functional and decorative home decor.
Board & Brush is an experience. We specialize in birthday parties, girls’ or moms’ nights out, date night, team-building and invite you to grab a friend and join us for a workshop.
Q. What makes you and/or your company unique compared with similar businesses?
A. While we may be similar to those paint-and-sip studios people may be aware of, we’re different in a significant way. Sure, we have great music and videos on big-screen TVs, adult beverages and snacks, but our customers leave our studio with a project that won’t end up squirreled away in a corner of a shelf. When you leave Board & Brush, you’ll leave with a beautiful piece of home decor that you will use and be proud to tell your friends and family, “I made that!”
Q. What’s new recently with the business that you want everyone to know about?
A. We’re excited to offer our first doormat workshop in August and our first Time Crunch Workshop, which is a great first-time option with smaller projects and a shorter workshop time. It won’t be long until we’re busy with Halloween- and fall-themed workshops, which are also a huge hit.
Q. What are the advantages of working in La Jolla?
A. We live right here in The Village and wanted our studio to be here, too! We’ve had wonderful customers from all over greater San Diego, some not familiar with La Jolla. They are thrilled that we have five parking spaces dedicated to our studio right in front. We love giving tips for places for our customers to go eat after a workshop, what to see and where to shop, which happens frequently.
Our website, boardandbrush.com/lajolla, is the place to browse our calendar and book your workshop. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram @boardandbrushlajollaca for our latest updates, flash sales and giveaways.
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