All About You FRIDAY – Splatter

From the moment I stepped into the studio, I felt my heart and mind open. “Here’s your protective gear,” he said to us. “Put the poncho on first, then the booties and then the coveralls.” We looked a little like white Teletubbies. But not for long.

As he ushered us into the big room, he waved his hand over a table of color. On the wall were three white canvases.

Each station was equipped with a large paint brush, a small paint brush, a water cannon, a splatter brush and a bucket of water. “You have an hour,” he said.

I stared at my canvas for only a second and then the child in me took over. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I dipped my splatter brush in the bright blue paint bucket and flung it at the wall. Hmm, I thought. That wasn’t exactly how I wanted that to look. I repeated it with green and then turquoise. My version of a Jackson Pollock painting wasn’t coming out like I had expected. I felt a pang of frustration. And then I hit a point where I realized I had to let go of all control. That is when the magic happened.

The hour flew by as we began to throw and squirt paint at our canvases. The less mature ones in our group started squirting paint at me. I began to see the reason for the layers of protection. The stress of the week melted away with every splash of color added to my creation and the evolution of each painting was inspiring to watch.

And there was a lot of laughter.

Everyone should do this, I thought. Reap the benefits of being surrounded by colors and let go of any real control of the outcome. Throw emotion onto a canvas and watch beauty emerge from the chaos. It’s a metaphor for life.

This is me posing by my painting to prove its authenticity.

Splatter is located in Ferndale, MI, but there are splatter painting studios all over the country. Grab a friend, your spouse or your grandkids and head to a splatter studio. You will create memories and maybe your painting will sell for a million dollars one day. (This Jackson Pollack painting Number 5, 1948, sold for $140M).