I have found the most soothing form of art therapy this side of finger painting. As I alluded to yesterday, I spent hours watching videos of people doing "paint pouring" so I tried it. I had nearly all of the ingredients involved. I just had to run out to get liquid silicone (from the hardware section) and a big bottle of Elmer's glue and popsicle sticks.
I didn't measure anything to speak of. I mixed up glue, water, and a glob of gloss medium until it looked sufficiently runny. I grabbed a selection of my paints that seemed to go well together, and mixed until it didn't look cloudy from the glue. And then I put in the silicone, starting slowly and adding more as I went along. I had tiny canvases leftover from a Christmas present years ago, 3x3 squares, and one thinner 6x6 in the craft cabinet. I didn't really have a plan, so I just coated the backgrounds on five sides (first one black, next one white). I dribbled dots and streaks of paint in random patterns, using the craft sticks to regulate how things fell. I alternated how I moved the paint around, sometimes tilting and swirling, sometimes dragging toothpicks and craft sticks through it. I used my hairdryer on the hottest setting, lowest speed, to try to open up "cells" where the silicone would react (with only modest success). And to really make this feel like a good healthy kindergarten project, I lightly dusted them with glitter.
These aren't the highest form of art I've ever tried. They might have been, however, the most cathartic. It just felt relaxing to make these. I'm totally going to do it again, when I need the emotional and spiritual break. It was calming and meditative. I could get used to this. I just have to plan for more than a day for them to dry.
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