My daughter started it all. Christy is an artist who temporarily put down her brushes and started pouring paint onto the canvas instead. The fascinating art form of Acrylic Paint Pouring seems like great fun, but really challenging. Some of the pieces she’s produced are very beautiful.
I hope here not to offend those who are seriously serious about this art medium, but I’m merely a spectator when it comes to painting. In a nutshell: you pour paint on the canvas, then tilt or blow or scrape it this way and that until your eye is pleased. A variety of implements are involved, including your breath as you use a straw to push paint around to your bidding. Then there’s the all important torch (I can see the fascination) that pushes away the top layer to reveal heavier paint underneath. There is much more to it, but you get the idea.
My son’s creative juices are flowing!
Last year my son grabbed his sister’s lead with a vengeance. Behold Jesse’s bedroom walls, splashed with the fruits of his current passion. I’m guessing what he sees in this art form is the opportunity for a giant science experiment, where equations have to be manipulated. There’s juggling colors, honing techniques, weighing portions, and experimenting with all sorts of pouring implements. Some of them right out of his kitchen drawers, where anything with holes is fair game.
Jesse’s “lab” is the limited space of an apartment and his solution was to mount his favorites in the hall and on the walls, rather like wallpaper or a patchwork quilt. They’re not only pleasing to look at, but the satisfaction you get from seeing your own skills and imagination is priceless.
I must admit to being skeptical at first. I grew up surrounded by “proper” decorating methods. A large piece of art here, a small grouping hung on a carefully measured grid there. Creativity was not encouraged, at least in my memory. But my own children know better and I bow to their creative instincts.
I’ve lived most of my life bound by convention but know by now that obeying all the rules, all the time, boxes you into a narrow perspective — of everything and everyone. Whereas I admire it in others, thinking “outside the box” seldom comes naturally so I’m grateful my children both feel free to think for themselves.
Really, I’m not as crazy as this looks.
Because pouring paint is so fun, and delightfully messy, my husband’s also been indulging. It’s now, apparently, a family activity. The three of them have visions in their heads, but me? Not so much. Under pressure, I did try it (note the masterpiece to the right), but for now I’m happy to be odd woman out and will be sticking to juggling words.