This month we spoke to Bernadetta from The Splasherist about the journey of their rage painting workshops, their journey on Yuup and how they are helping people to de-stress in a slightly unconventional way!
What inspired the name for the business?
The Splasherist name was created by me on an ordinary day in April 2023.
Abstract splash painting was in our minds at the time, and I wanted to add something that resonated with creators. We couldn’t find any catchy words covering these activities, thus Splasherist was an idea out of blue. The people we asked liked it too, so we kept it for good.
How did you come up with the idea for your Rage Painting Workshop?
I made some basic splash art at home in the garden when I was a teen, but it was very messy so gave up on the activity. A few years later I was then at a splash painting event that triggered the idea to have a dedicated space for this.
My friend originally wanted to open a rage room in the premisses we had in mind, but this idea didn’t come into fruition. We loved the “rage” concept and created one of the UK’s first official rage painting studios here in Bath by mixing the two concepts.
The magic happens here when you are creating something with the excess energy you have.
How did you approach the concept of art emphasising accessibility and inclusion?
For children Splasherist means complete freedom of creativity and having the space where they can allocate their natural passion about leaving their marks on the wall. Children tend to leave braver, smiley and with many many ideas on what to do next. It is amazing to see a shy little girl on the beginning who is afraid of saying hello, coming out from the session with many creative plans for the whole year dispensing on us with shiny eyes from the excitement.
For adults Splasherist provides a freedom of releasing their pressure caps on a playground where they can do whatever they would like to in their own privacy and atmosphere they create. We help induce positive vibes and comfort, but everyone is travelling on their own track with their own music and drinks. There is not any chance to have copied or remade the artwork that is made here so we are leaving competition out of the scene. Everyone can enjoy their session on the level they want.
We designed our programs for being suitable for visitors with learning disabilities too so they also may be a fully active participants of a family reunion at our studio. They can do whatever they would like to.
We are looking for a space now that is wheelchair accessible so everyone may be included in the Splasherist experience.
Inclusivity is a very important mission for us, and we never judge by the cover. We will give a hand to remove the safety gear or refill cups or adjust easels if that is requested.
What attracted you to running classes in Bath?
I used to live in Bath back in 2013 and just loved the place. I moved away due to my studies and other adventures but a piece of my heart and some of my friends stayed here.
The place we rent was an escape room for many years before and the previous owner was offering it with the business. We were not interested in it and let it go but played with the idea for a while. The owner of the property was later contacting us about the place if we were interested and we had a definite idea about our directions by then, so we took it. Let’s say the place has chosen us. Bath is an amazing vibrant city with exceptional architecture, cultural life and diversity of communities.
Our studio is out of the Clean Air zone and on-street parking is free for two hours. These were other important factors when making our choice and gone with the rental.
Any plans to take your experiences to new cities?
We are launching this summer with a new unit in Bristol and Worcester, and we are coming to London before Christmas. Cannot wait to have Yuup on board and introducing Splasherist in other cities.
What challenges did you face in turning the business plan into reality?
We are completely off the track by the initial business plan and budgeting we had. Funding was a big issue as being a startup there is not much we could do only to utilise the savings we had with my partner.
We started as an artist collaboration but there was not much interest in the guided programs sadly. We also considered various other avenues such as having a web shop for artwork and Splasherist classes, but these were not as successful as we hoped.
We found that customers wanted more private sessions on offer, so that groups could have the space to themselves and fully relax or have a laugh.
We were so adaptive to the resonance of every single person who been to the Splasherist, we spent a year collecting information and observing everything they might need for an uplifting hour of complete freedom of creativity. After a year of different approaches, we are more sustainable and better understanding of a pioneer business path that we had to walk on.
We learned a lot during this journey and still many years to keep learning that makes it so fascinating for us. So, after a year of trading testing, trying and believing in the Splasherist we can sit down and see how far we went since we first talked about Splasherist.
Have you got any advice you could share with budding new artists looking to teach / host experiences?
Maybe a Charles Darwin quote will be the most beautiful advice for newbies on the scene: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, not the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”
Our program is a fully demand built bespoke experience that we are very proudly provide. We are trying to give the most to our visitors who were kindly choosing us for their special occasion and making sure that all their expectations were exceeded when we are looking after them.
You must love your mission more than the money you make with it also you have to be flexible as nearly nothing will go ahead as initially planned. But don’t worry and just listen to your gut and if your intentions are kind and honest the likeminded will recognise you slowly and surely.
What motivated you to sign up with Yuup, and how has the platform been beneficial for your experiences?
Yuup had been recommended to us by our web designer colleague and all I wanted just a “Rep” from them. Yuup was an amazing partner for helping us to fill our first spaces.
As our business was new and nothing similar was on the market that time, we had to build the trust with the community first which was an amazing journey with Yuup. We are still offering, and will always offer, our services on Yuup as we will never forget who was there when the Splasherist Rage Painting experience was born.
Their commission feels well deserved as there are tools and functions on Yuup which are helping our day-to-day business and communication. The video which Yuup created is one of the most viewed reels about Splasherist. We were so novice, but we received huge patience from the team and support in every possible way to enhance visibility of our programs.
We love Yuup as a partner from the very beginning, we truly appreciate everyone’s kind approach towards to our start up, and we have met so many amazing people via Yuup that we will never forget.
How have your experiences on Yuup been received by customers?
Our first booking happened via Yuup and we were very curious about how things would turn out. The first booking was a mother and daughter duo, and we were so excited to see them. We did not have any routine, so I was giving an induction like for driving a spacecraft. But they were super chilled when they finished, and they left a very nice feedback and review too.
Since then, we keep continue receiving positive reviews which we are super proud of, and we will make sure that we will keep this standard to all our visitors coming from any platform.
If someone purchases once of your workshops through Yuup, what can they expect in terms of educational content, enjoyment, and the overall atmosphere of sessions?
Our program is self-guided which is a completely different approach.
What we offer is time well spent in a protective and encouraging environment, dressed up in top quality safety gear, non-toxic and safe paint and stickers, alternatively vegan set up, amazing selection of canvases with wide variety of tools and things you were never thought about using.
Visitors will receive privacy with their group, and they may bring their own drinks (canned or bottled advised) and favourite music playlist too. We offer free bottled mineral water to everyone on arrival if they would like to grab one, also we advise to leave the picture’s behind for curing in our dark room after the event.
Overall Yuup customers will experience a one-of-a-kind event which will be super bonding, super creative, absolute switch off from the squirrel wheel and instead of destroying with rage they will hold something that they called alive with it. The creator’s playground part is the best of it. It might be liberating, mental health supportive and kind of purifying experience for some of us who is looking to step out of the comfort zone. I am doing this on a regular basis, and I love the effect of it.
What does the future hold for your businesses?
We will always have a rage painting room in the local vicinity. I believe we will move to another unit in Bath in two months, and we would like to open new units in other cities soon.
Meanwhile we will launch our franchise concept from September after the two grand openings in Bristol and Worcester.
We are coming up with an exciting new approach called Splash and Dance where UV light, neon paint and dance instructor will be involved which is a blast! We have so many ideas so that we can keep creating happy and content visitors for many years to come.
