This summer I've been obsessed with making acrylic pour paintings. I made my first one back in June 2018 and have periodically made them since, writing in January 2019 about how to name abstract art and in February 2020 about using this technique to paint metal. But this summer this technique has gripped me. It used to be that months might go by before I made another painting. But for the last two months, I've been making at least one painting a week, sometimes two or three in a single day, and I wasn't sure why. All I knew is that I felt so much more relaxed during and afterwards that I didn't want to stop. It wasn't necessarily that I was delighted with the finished paintings. Sometimes, yes, but occasionally I painted over the same canvas two or three or more times to get a pleasing result.
Purple and Aqua Jazz
Fun With Fractals
Yesterday I read a relaxation tip in the July 2020 issue of Real Simple that mentioned looking at fractals such as those found in Jackson Pollock paintings. Curious, I dug deeper and found this article in The Atlantic: Why Fractals Are So Soothing which reports that looking at fractals can reduce your stress by 60%. The reason we find fractals soothing is that our brains can process them very quickly.
Fractals are repeating patterns often found in nature (think snowflakes, lightning strikes, pineapples, ferns). An article from Discover Magazine describes them as Russian nesting dolls where if you focus on one section you'll see a smaller version of what you've started with. If you've ever felt more relaxed when looking at clouds or tree branches, it's probably the fractals that are at least partly responsible. (According to Psychology Today, it might be one reason that your doctor's office has nature prints on the walls.) In contrast, human-made environments like office buildings rarely employ fractals in design.
Do my paintings have fractals? Some of them might. Coastlines and ocean waves are also examples of fractals and I do think some of my finished paintings that have quality.
The Motion of the Ocean
Another point some fractal researchers make is that it's not just the patterns themselves that are soothing, but also the movement of the patterns. Think of watching waving tree branches or the tide coming in. This might explain why even when a finished painting isn't great, I still feel satisfied. The way I make these paintings is to drip or pour paint on a canvas and then to rotate it in my hands to cover the surface. I have to watch the paint intently so that it covers the entire canvas and doesn't just slide off in one direction. (Search Google for "acrylic pour painting video" and see if you find it mesmerizing, too.)
This Is Your Brain . . . On Lockdown
This is a time of uncertainty. When will we feel safe enough for an airplane flight? A crowded concert arena? Will grocery shopping ever feel like it did before? I didn't think that I felt especially anxious, but my brain seems to disagree. Whether it's the fractals or not, I can't deny that this is what my brain longs to do over and over again:
Red Planet