issue feature The Hot List

Sips n Strokes

The black floor is speckled with colorful paint,
white cover-ups bunched together hang on the back wall, bottle openers lie next to several empty glasses and dozens of bare easels hint at what went on the night before. Sips n Strokes is just as much a party as it is a painting class, and it’s been quite a hit in Birmingham this year.

What started as one monthly class in a single location has expanded to sessions six days a week in five locations–four in and surrounding Birmingham and another in Atlanta. Artist and Owner Wendy LoVoy recognized a need to offer art classes to those who didn’t have the time or money to commit to long-term instruction. By founding Sips n Strokes she’s able to present two to three-and-a-half-hour classes to participants as frequently or as seldom as they wish. Paintings vary by day, so participants can choose what they would like to paint by visiting sipsnstrokes. com for a complete listing of paintings and dates to choose from.

LoVoy, or one of her instructors, leads the group through each exercise, step by step, as assistants answer questions or give advice if needed. “If you can follow directions then you can do this,” LoVoy says.

The classes are for men and women of all ages “who can’t even draw a stick figure” or who are the most advanced artists. Participants are asked to bring their favorite beverage and Sips n Strokes provides the rest. “It lets people, who want a chance to get away, have a good time,” LoVoy says. “And you get something to show for what you’ve been doing that night.” Visit sipsnstrokes.com for registration information and pricing. —JW


 Kipp Tohill

Not long after
Birmingham magazine
photographed Kipp Tohill
 for its “Beautiful People” issue in 2007, Ralph Lauren discovered the six-foot-two, blue-eyed, 46-year-old father of three. And the best part is? Tohill never really intended to be a model.

Almost five years ago a girlfriend sent his picture in to Real People and encouraged the Alagasco service mechanic to pursue modeling. When he was called in, he felt out of place, as most of the other models were quite a bit younger. “I thought, ‘what am I doing here?’” Tohill says. “But they said I was marketable with gray hair and being in shape.”

Tohill has since modeled for Grove Park Inn in North Carolina, The Summit, United States Postal Service, Beau Rivage Casino and Resort, Belk, Cooking Light magazine and Alabama Tourism Campaign to name a few but his recent and most significant assignment has been to represent American Living, Ralph Lauren’s exclusive product for JCPenney. For the campaign, Tohill has appeared in TV commercials, print work, movie theatres, Sports Illustrated and Men’s Health.

Tohill’s initial almost-indifferent attitude toward modeling was “If they call me, I’ll do it,” he says, but he never dreamed that it would go this far. “I hope that it keeps going well,” Tohill says. “It’s fun to be made a big deal of.”

It would be easy to fall prey to the negative repercussions of stardom but his daughters, ages 8, 11 and 15, keep him grounded. In fact, when his 11 year old saw his picture in Men’s Health, she nonchalantly replied ‘“Hey, that’s you,’” Tohill recalls, “and kept flipping through the magazine.”

Modeling is a hobby but his daughters are his passion. “Being divorced made me realize how valuable my time with them is,” Tohill says. “In the past I would choose mowing the grass over being with them. That’s changed. Now I hope they enjoy being with me as much as I enjoy being with them.” —JW

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January Birmingham, Alabama

  

 
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