Known more for its burlesque shows, Surly Wench Pub hosts a different set of artists, the fully clothed kind, at its bar the first Tuesday night of each month.
Painters, cartoonists, illustrators, leatherworkers, tattoo artists and other art practitioners gather at Surly Wench to create art in a dimly lit setting, where bar stools are replaced by folding chairs and tables.
Secondhand lamps provide just enough light to assist the vision of participating artists.
Painter and cartoonist Donovan White founded the monthly meeting with some friends as a way to collaborate with other Tucson artists over cold beverages.
"We got a bunch of dudes in here drinking beer and drawing," White, 38, said at September's event.
The next gathering, the group's sixth, is slated for Tuesday.
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White's assembly of artists is his way of showcasing the work of the talented artists who call Tucson home.
Plus, it gets artists out of their houses or normal working environments.
"I'm married and I have a kid. I wish I could have all these people at my house. I really do. You only get better drawing by seeing other people draw and by really studying other people," White said.
Interest in the meeting of the artists has grown solely by word of mouth.
Five people attended the first event and more than two dozen artists were at September's activities.
"It's my little way of helping promote the arts," White said.
Painter Sara Curtiss was invited to take part in the monthly meeting after White saw her drawing at Che's Lounge, where he is a bartender.
"It's a great feeling of camaraderie," Curtiss said at the last gathering as she drew with white chalk on black paper to sketch alcohol bottles that became human faces.
"For me, it's the same feeling as old ladies getting together and knitting," she said.
"You get together to talk and be around like-minded people."
Nearby, tattoo artist David Williams huddled under a lamp to paint a "strange Russian monk" on canvas.
White, black and blue paints poured onto a paper plate served as his palette.
A whiskey and 7UP was his drink of choice.
"It's a cool experience to get out of work and draw with a bunch of different people every time," he said. "I really enjoy art and I enjoy this crowd's company at an excellent bar."
Artist Ed Muren shared his 11-panel mural of singer George Clinton with artists at September's meeting.
Muren roughly sketched out Clinton's face on the back of old kitchen cabinet doors and handed out the doors to other artists to paint.
"I had all these panels and I figured we should do something fun with them," he said.
Muren participates in the monthly art meetings because of the positive vibe.
"It's about being around a multitude of people with the same creative drive," he said. "It's good energy to be around."
Artist and musician Chris Kallini is a buddy of White's from their days growing up in Maryland.
The two would regularly get together at White's house to have a beer and draw, but now they can come together at Surly Wench.
Kallini was carving moons and clouds into a piece of leather on a marble slab at last month's meeting.
The design for the wallet was taken from tattoos on the inner arms of one of Kallini's friends.
"It's interesting to take art work, like a tattoo, that's two-dimensional on living flesh and create a three-dimensional piece on dead flesh," he said of his wallet.
Kallini, 39, found leatherwork after he had trouble mastering painting.
"I started doing it to get in a craft nobody my age was doing," he said. "A lot of my friends paint and draw, and I'm not as good as them so I want to do my own thing."
There's no pressure at the monthly meetings to create masterpieces.
Artists like Matt Landis treat the event as an inspirational social function.
"It's very motivational," Landis said. "It's not serious. It's not trying to put work together for a gallery. It's a chance to let loose and have fun, and meet some cool people."
On StarNet: See a slide show at azstarnet.com/gallery
If you go
The next gathering of artists and art lovers will be 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 5 at the Surly Wench, 424 N. Fourth Ave.
Contact reporter Andrea Rivera at arivera@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
