Recently, experiencing one of life’s many landmines, I lost the transmission in my car, and am currently dealing with the fallout of that… and the immediate breaks put on any current or foreseeable feature funds for art supplies. Thankfully, I bought 3 gallons of Floetrol before that fateful day. On the flip-side, I’m going through an amazing time in the studio. As an artist I’m experiencing a next level kind of feeling. While I’ve been pouring acrylics for some time, most of my experience is working with soft body acrylics and Pouring Medium. It’s been my go-to base. While I would constantly experiment, it was time usually spent on different forms of acrylics, acrylic inks, etc., but always with PM as my base. Depending on the pour, this little amazing miracle would sometimes happen in my paintings. I don’t know how I did them, but I was always ecstatic when they would show up. Cells.
Since then I’ve found out, there are people who have a “thing” for the pattern of colorful cells… and some people that don’t get it. I’m a member of the first club. For the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with paint additives like Floetrol (latex paint additive) and silicone. These additives, if mixed correctly, can greatly improve any acrylic pour artists’ chances of creating major cells.
I find the act of looking at pour art, especially with beautiful patterns of cells, is like a meditation of sorts for me. It’s relaxing to run my eyes over a flowing landscape of moving color. It’s also a meditation to watch the birth of the piece. The show begins the moment the paint first touches the surface, and you watch as it continues and spreads. And you get to help, by tilting or moving the canvas/board, until all of the exposed surfaces (sides too) are completely covered. When the general form of your project gets to a point where you are happy with the look of it, it’s time to step back and study it…. There’s more to it, but every step of the process is a part of the dance. For someone who’s never done or seen a pour in progress, one might think that the show would now be over, right? NOPE. There’s one more part to the process, and that part is what I call the “Christmas Morning Affect”. The CM Affect happens because you’re working with fluid materials. This is the part that, I believe, is somehow attractive to the “gambler” inside of us, because you truly never know what you’re going to get, once it’s dried. A dog hair could blow into it and dry there… Or, your paints could have been a tad thin, and now the really pretty and crisp designs that were there at the time of the pour are now gone, and all you have left is a muddy dried mess. But when you wake up to find that it all dried beautifully and “intact”, you would swear that you could actually hear the “Hallelujah Chorus” blasting in the background.
Definitely more to come….
XOXO
Kim
Since then I’ve found out, there are people who have a “thing” for the pattern of colorful cells… and some people that don’t get it. I’m a member of the first club. For the past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with paint additives like Floetrol (latex paint additive) and silicone. These additives, if mixed correctly, can greatly improve any acrylic pour artists’ chances of creating major cells.
I find the act of looking at pour art, especially with beautiful patterns of cells, is like a meditation of sorts for me. It’s relaxing to run my eyes over a flowing landscape of moving color. It’s also a meditation to watch the birth of the piece. The show begins the moment the paint first touches the surface, and you watch as it continues and spreads. And you get to help, by tilting or moving the canvas/board, until all of the exposed surfaces (sides too) are completely covered. When the general form of your project gets to a point where you are happy with the look of it, it’s time to step back and study it…. There’s more to it, but every step of the process is a part of the dance. For someone who’s never done or seen a pour in progress, one might think that the show would now be over, right? NOPE. There’s one more part to the process, and that part is what I call the “Christmas Morning Affect”. The CM Affect happens because you’re working with fluid materials. This is the part that, I believe, is somehow attractive to the “gambler” inside of us, because you truly never know what you’re going to get, once it’s dried. A dog hair could blow into it and dry there… Or, your paints could have been a tad thin, and now the really pretty and crisp designs that were there at the time of the pour are now gone, and all you have left is a muddy dried mess. But when you wake up to find that it all dried beautifully and “intact”, you would swear that you could actually hear the “Hallelujah Chorus” blasting in the background.
Definitely more to come….
XOXO
Kim
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