T wo summers ago, Jill Kerner Schon listened as a friend from Atlanta described a fabulous painting she created at “one of those fun places where you paint and drink.” Schon, divorced for many years and wondering how best to ramp up her career as her nest emptied, instantly had an “aha” moment: The Boston area didn’t have a similar hangout.

Within five days, she and Jackie, the oldest of her three daughters, now 27, 25, and 20, boarded a plane to Atlanta to check it out as a possible business to start here. Despite doom and gloom predictions from family — and an accountant — mother and daughter borrowed money from trusted friends and took the plunge, becoming cofounders of the Paint Bar in Newtonville four months later.