Spinning with the KB

spin-1, originally uploaded by camille94019.

The KB and I spent the afternoon dribbling, splattering and spinning. My first exposure to the spin machine was a the San Mateo County Fair, circa 1985. It was cool, but not transcendent. It was near the cows as I recall, and there was lots of hay in the air, and hordes of other kids clamoring for their turn-- not the most conducive art-making situation. This time, however, it was just me and some craft acrylics. The KB spent most of the time trying to refill the bottles, leaving me alone with it. I found out that the thicker paint moves slower, but has more potential for layering and controlled bleeding/smearing. I discovered that you can build them up slowly, allowing the paint to dry between applications. When the KB finally had the bottles to her liking, she experimented with full contact, finger painting and impasto techniques. Hers ended up being nearly 3-D. When my mother saw her green hands, she sent her packing immediately to the bathroom. There are so many other things one could do with this using different papers, using inks and watercolors!