7. Week Four: The Studio as a Place for Inspiration

Five out of the six participants showed up for the fourth Big Paintings session. Four felt their paintings were completed. Out of the four, three chose to play Monopoly and one decided to experiment with watercolors on small sheets of paper. The fifth student tossed a few more acid-green paint bombs at her painting then asked, “Rufo, what do I do now?” I responded, “What do you want to do now?” “I don’t know” she replied as she walked over to the supply table and slowly stirred a newly opened gallon of paint. She noticed how the paint dribbled off the end of the stick in thin meandering strands when lifted out of the can. This inspired her use the stir stick to drizzle thin strands of paint directly onto her painting. This new layer of webbing reinvigorated her work. Eventually she used the stick to fling the paint creating a surface resembling contemporary painter Pat Steir’s energized “calligraphic arcs” (Sheets, 2012, p.105).

Toward the end of the session the girl who was using the watercolors transitioned to painting designs on one of the tabletops and was eventually joined by the Monopoly group. The girl who was dribbling paint picked up an old sneaker and asked if she could cover the bottom of it with paint to create prints on the table. I told her she could and suggested that she might want to use a brush to make sure the paint was spread evenly. Ignoring my suggestion she used the stir stick to slather blue house paint over the upturned sole. She then brought the dripping sneaker over to the table where the girls were painting and pressed a series of six sneaker prints across its length. “Somebody’s been walking on the table,” joked one of the other girls.