In the Beginning
In the beginning of this season of experimenting and exploring what kind of art I wanted to create, I played with acrylic pours. I found some artists on YouTube whose art intrigued me and I started to follow their channels. There certainly is an art to coming up with the right color palette, right amount of flow, and how you distribute the color.
One of my first attempts was the 12 x 12 piece shown on the right here. I had too much water and Floetrol (a latex paint additive to improve flow and levelling of water-based paints) in the mix. What you get is a bunch of cells where the paint is separating from the Floetrol and water.
Now, if that’s what you’re going for, then great. I wasn’t attempting to do that, though. Haha. However, I do like how the painting here turned out so much that I’ve kept the piece and not painted over it.
My second attempt was the two pieces on the left.
In this case I was happy with the mix but not with the design of how the paint flowed. However, my dear friend loved them (God bless her!) and demanded that she be able to purchase them for her newly decorated master bath.
This definitely made me realize that every piece of art speaks to each individual differently. I appreciate how cool these two pieces work so well in her home.
During this time of experimentation, another friend had just moved into a new home and commissioned me (God bless her, too!) to create three large paintings for her. I decided the one she wanted over her fireplace would be an acrylic pour flower with texture incorporated into the piece. Another realization I came upon at this time in my art journey was that I loved texture, so I decided to include it in this painting.
My friend wanted me to use a turquoise, dark blue, and silver color palette. I started with a 12 x 12 case study to see how the texture and color palette would look. I liked the texture, but wanted to add a bit more turquoise to the overall composition.
So, with great trepidation I prepared the 48 x 48 canvas. Just starting out like I was, beyond all the fears of whether I’m worthy, capable, talented enough, etc., I also had the fear of totally botching a 48 x 48 canvas and having to spend money on another canvas.
The only space I had for such a large pour was my garage, so I spread out a tarp, took a deep breath, and started pouring.
Thankfully, my friend loved how the piece turned out. I am about 90% happy with it. Ha-Ha.
I knew that if I messed with it to try to gain that extra 10%, I would have had to make a trip to the art store for another canvas. At least I had learned somewhere along the way when to stop.
From these experiences, I created several more pieces. The 8 x 10 canvas below became a wondrous pour, deep with layers, that ended up being the inspiration for a poem by a friend of mine, Ellen Childress. She called her poem, and thus the painting, In the Beginning.
In the Beginning was purchased by another friend (God bless him, too!), who felt the title should be Revelation 4. Both titles are great and, again, I was amazed at how an art piece speaks so differently to people’s hearts. I love this. I love that if I can get free of self-inflicted tightness and fear and allow the child within me to be free to create untethered, the gift the Lord entrusted to me creates something wondrous. And, then that creation provides wonder for others.