Pouring Paint

When the Create in Me retreat is at its best for me, I get to try new things.  That part is not the most important part for me; the most important part of the retreat is reconnecting with friends.  But it's great when I get to try an artistic technique I might never try on my own.

I've been hearing about paint pouring for years.  It always sounded interesting, but I haven't tried it--until yesterday.

In some ways, it reminds me of alcohol inks:  the way you have minimal control of the finished product, the way the paint swirls, the way the finished product might look different when it dries.

We tried some techniques with string, and other ways to affect the finished project.  I had trouble photographing with the big fluorescent light overhead--hard to get rid of that glare on the wet paint.

It was fun.  In the piece below, I was trying for autumnal colors, but purple tried to take over, the way that purple so often does.

I have a similar problem with paint pouring that I do with the pieces I made with alcohol ink.  I can make a number of pieces in small time, and then what do I do with them all?

In short, it was great to experiment with supplies that I didn't have to buy separately, store on my own, feel guilty when the paint dried up in the containers because I didn't have time or space to do this art more often.

Today it's on to trying more stuff.  Last year, I had a broken wrist, and I couldn't do much.  This year, I want to do it all, and I'm overwhelmed a bit.  But maybe I'll try to make something with fabric edges made from this antique cutter: