Splatter!

Do you ever walk through a museum - especially modern art - and think, "I can do that?"  Kyle and I have that discussion sometimes when we see "art" that looks like it was done by a grade school student or is simply so basic that we wonder what makes it art.  I know.  That is probably something that we shouldn't admit in public.  But, it is the truth.

The work of Jackson Pollock, although bright and colorful, are the type of paintings that make me say, "I can do that."  I know he was an innovator and he used techniques and materials that make his work special.  He was the first to put canvases on the floor and perfected his drip technique using household paint and different objects he found like turkey basters, hardened brushes, and sticks.  But to the average person his splatter paintings look like something we could reproduce.  And today, we got that chance!

We made an appointment at new art studio for a family workshop to try our hand at splatter painting in the style of Jackson Pollock.

As soon as we got there the owner put Grace in a giant T-shirt to cover her clothes and we all set out to mix colors. The finished product is going to be 6' X 3' so we decided to use the colors of the walls in our house to hang it over the bed in the master bedroom.

Grace didn't love mixing colors - other than shaking the jars - so she and Kyle wandered around the AMAZINGLY colorful studio.  They quickly discovered the splatter room and called me back there to see it.

They have only been open for two months and the room looks like this already! I guess that means business is good!

Within a few minutes we were ready to splatter our paint.  Each color was in its own jar and we use syringes to spray the paint on the canvas which was spread on the floor.  Grace was the first to give it a try!

And then we all got into it.  You either know when you are done or keep going until there is no paint left.  I'll give you one guess which course we took!

For a final surprise, they had balloons with paint in them.  You squeeze the balloon to make the paint splatter in all directions.  This is where we got paint on our faces, legs, clothes, and in our hair!

Our finished work of art looked so cool.  This photo doesn't do it justice.  They give it a few days to dry, stretch it, and put a varnish over it.  I can pick it up sometime next week.

What an amazing concept for an art workshop.  Anyone can do it.  The owner said she has adult parties, kids' parties, families, etc. come in to try this process.  There were many hanging in the studio and in the back room waiting to be picked up.  I think we found Grace's 7th birthday party place....and maybe a second career for me.  Anyone want to open a francise?