Carly First

Hello, I'm Carly! I am equal parts owner, operator, and artist here at Twist - Champion Forest! I began working for Painting with a Twist in May of 2017 as an artist, until eventually the studio was transferred to me in May of 2019. I thoroughly love being involved in all aspects of the company and continue to instruct events regularly. Kid's classes and Paint-Your-Pet events are my FAVORITE! Outside of Painting with a Twist, I use most of my spare time painting and spending quality time with my husband, our dogs, and my family and friends. I also love traveling, hiking, long road-trips, running, binging Tex-Mex and Netflix, crafting, and going to the movies, concerts, and Astros games!

Artist Website

Lo & Raborn Reader

Lo and Raborn are co-owner's and artist-assistants here at Twist-Champion Forest! They love decorating and sprucing up the studio, coming up with fun themed events, and watching folks of all ages unwind and express themselves! In their free time, they enjoy cooking, spending time by the fire, playing with their 4 dogs and 5 cats, hanging out with all 5 of their adult kids, and.... wine/bourbon/tequila tasting! ;) Lo is a very busy cosmetologist and loves to beautify her clients, and Raborn is a businessman heavily involved in freemasonry. They can't wait to see your beautiful faces in the studio!

Cat Loehr

Twist artist Cat has loved doing art since she was a toddler! At four she got her start as a muralist on the stairwell wall, much to her mother’s disappointment!! She has come a long way since with her art and murals, both painted on walls, and street art chalk festivals every fall (Kerrville Chalk& Via Colori in DT Houston), as well as doing many fun portrait and pet portrait commissions. In addition to making her own art she is the 7th and 8th grade art teacher at Doerre Intermediate, mother of two boys and two fur babies, and artist here at Painting with a Twist! She loves bold and bright colors, emotional art, and most of all she has a passion for sharing her love and ability to create art with everyone, regardless of age or current ability! Come create and have some fun with Cat!!

Artist Website

Jaydi Richter

Hi there! My name is Jaydi and I’m a member of the fighting Texas Aggie class of 2018 (whoop!) I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a minor in Psychology, though art has my heart and occupies most of my free time. I am a self-taught artist and I love to explore a wide variety of art styles and mediums. I do all kinds of work from digital illustrations, graphic design, oil painting portraits, to large scale outdoor murals. Outside of art I have a passion for fitness and a National Personal Training Certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. A fun fact about me is I have an obsession with spicy foods and put hot sauce on just about everything!

Artist Website

Amanda Jeffery

Hi! My name is Amanda Jeffery and I have always been a creative person. Currently, I am enrolled at Lone Star and consider myself a nerd and proud of it. Game of Thrones, Star Wars, Harry Potter, you name it, I'm a fan. I have a 14 year old daughter and I believe everyone is capable of creating art, and the best kind is made with fun.

Emma Nielsen

Hi there! I’m Emma Nielsen. I’ve had a love for art and creativity all my life. I am a self taught artist, inspired by my artsy family and the beautiful, captivating world around me. I am currently a high school senior. I have taught kiddos art for most of my high school years, along side of creating art myself. I work with many different mediums and love realism. In my free time, I can be found working on an art piece, going on road trips(typically exploring Texas) with my family, meeting new people everyday, and thrift shopping random clothing!

Artist Website

Agnes Stelmach

Hi, I'm Agnes! My love for art started at a very young age when I met a friend of my parents who is a painter. Many of his paintings hung on the walls of my home growing up and I dreamed of one day becoming an artist just like him. Some of my earliest memories are of me sitting on the floor with my dad, drawing with colored pencils. I kept drawing as I grew up and decided to follow my dream of becoming an artist and chose to study fine art in college. In 2013 I graduated with a BFA in Studio Art from Sam Houston State University. Today, I paint with oils on wood in my studio at home. You can find me displaying my work at various art fairs around Texas and some local markets. Outside of art, I have a burning passion for astronomy, sketching what I see at my telescope on black paper. Our interests often blend together, and my observations of the universe tend to influence my work. I love animals too and use my Houston Zoo membership to frequently go and sketch the animals there from life, which then also find their way into my paintings! In my free time I enjoy video games, knitting, spinning yarn, and sharing backpacking adventures around Texas with my beloved husband.

Artist Website

Ben First

Hey, I'm Ben and I am an artist-assistant here at Twist Champion Forest (and Carly's husband!) While I don't instruct events, I do love the environment here at Twist and can often be found pouring extra paint for guests with one hand while holding a cold beer in the other. I enjoy grilling/cooking, writing, traveling, spending time with my dogs, and playing the guitar. I also make a mean cocktail; order a Twist at Home kit through the At Home Kits tab and click on the link to my cocktail page below to whip up one of your own to sip on while you're painting!

Artist Website