Hyde Graphics: Home Decor - Commercial Products - Paint Parties

By Samantha Holzman

This Ohio winter sure is brutal- are you looking for something fun and artistic to do? Check out Hyde Graphics!

When I first entered the barn, the faint smell of paint was in the air, beautiful lettering was hanging on the walls, and the feeling of creativity and inspiration was all around. I was able to visit Hyde Graphics and have a chat with the owner, Allison Hyde. Not surprisingly, she is extremely passionate about her business. She says, “I do think it’s kind of cool to encourage my kids and other kids and to have them see me working my small business. If you can do something, be brave enough to pursue your own thing.”

So how did you get started?

“I used to always doodle in school and this teacher used to always take my stuff because I’d be constantly doodling in math class. And now I get paid to doodle and draw and create. I had been doing decals, mostly commercial, just as a hobby. Like decals on the side of a truck or in a yard, stuff like that. I worked at Samaritan for over five years, I was in the ER.”

“A couple of years into that job, I had people asking me to create fun things, which was way more fun. And it just grew from there; it took over my house. My husband and I looked downtown and tried to find a place but with our kids being so young, we decided to just build a barn. I’m able to do all of my stuff in here, the kids are able to play, and here we are.”

How did the paint parties begin?

“So the barn has been here for about a year and a half. People wanted parties before the barn was even completed, they were desperate for something else to do around here. If you look at the first few pictures we have, the walls are bare, there’s no painting hung up. And people just didn’t care, they wanted to come and paint. So it kind of just branched out from that. A lady from Hallmark actually called me last spring and created a few displays about my work all over, which was great.”

“I have parties booked from October all the way until January. People like to book them for Christmas parties and it just kept pushing from there. I used to not have more than two per week but now it’s more like three or four. It gets very crazy. In the winter I like to have people come in during the day.”

So how does a paint party work?

“People send me their idea of what they want to create and I send them screenshots back and forth, varying the design or sometimes the colors. I’ve had people do their favorite verse or a quote or a saying. I make them stencils so they paint their background and they paint over the stencil and then you have perfect lettering.”

What is the environment for a paint party?

“It’s very laid back. It’s usually a mess. It’s very kid-friendly because that was the whole point of having the barn, was to have my kids running around. So if people need to bring their kids, it’s not an adult party. It’s very casual. I feel like we’re doing cool things to encourage people. We do a kids craft show, where we push them to be entrepreneurs- they make their own products and sell their own products. There’s kids that are as young as three or four, doing watercolors or soap. We like to encourage people to do cool things.”

According to her website (https://www.hydegraphics.com/),

I LOVE having paint parties!!! I love watching people leave so excited about what they create! We schedule open parties and private parties!

Why should people come?

“I think, especially during the winter, it encourages people to do more. My business is getting people to do things. There’s more things popping up around Ashland but this is another thing to do. It’s something different than hanging out in the bar. It’s fun and relaxing and people leave with something cool.”

Want to get in contact with Hyde Graphics?

For more information, visit https://www.hydegraphics.com/ or email allisonhyde1@yahoo.com or call 419-651-7110.