Pour Painting on Pots

Yesterday and today I spent the day painting terracotta pots using the pouring method. 

 This is something I have never done before, but I saw it on Pinterest, and it didn't look too challenging. When I started Googling the subject in an effort to learn more about it, I stumbled upon a really cool YouTube video of artists making a "tall painting". I decided to try to blend the two ideas together. (I didn't want to waste all the paint that would be dripping off of the pots.) So off to Lowes I went for my supplies. 

Keep reading to see the process of how I did it!

 

 I came back with an assortment of pots, a sheet of 2ft x 2ft pine plywood, and a 2in x 2in x 8ft pine furring strip cut into 1 foot long pieces. I also got some black and white spray paint, clear gloss topcoat spray paint and an assortment of latex paint samples.

 The first thing I did was paint the plywood and the inside of the pots.

 I should have worn gloves. I think my next post will be a manicure post!

 After the paint dried I attached the pieces of furring strips to the plywood. I pre-drilled holes into both parts then used wood screws from underneath to attach the furring strips.

 Next I masked the bottom of my pots with painters tape. I used an exacto knife to cut off the excess tape.

Next I balanced my pots, upside down, over the furring strips. The idea is that the plywood will catch all the excess paint, and will also make a pretty painting.

Here are all the paint colors that I used. They are just sample size container of interior latex paint. Notice how nice and neat everything is "before".

At first I didn't alter the paint at all, but I quickly realized that they were way too thick to get the effect that I was going for. I added some water to all the little jars and shook them up good. It made the pouring a lot easier.

I just kept alternating colors until I liked how they looked.

When I finished with the pouring I moved the pots to dry. Then I carefully unscrewed the furring strips from the plywood.

I then used the same strips to tilt the plywood up at an angle.

 While the paint on the plywood was spreading out I painted the saucers that go with the pots by splattering paint on them with my fingers.

I decided that my painting needed some splatters too.

There ended up being a ton of paint on this. It was so heavy that it bowed the plywood while it was drying!

Messy messy!

Sheese! And I thought it was bad earlier! Oh well, painting's not fun if you don't get it all over you!

I let everything dry over night. This morning I covered the pots and saucers with the clear coat gloss. I was in my garage with windows and the garage doors open, but the fumes were really really bad. It gave me a headache that has lasted all day. When I went back to spray the other side of everything I took it all out into my yard and used a respirator. It made a huge difference, and I won't make that mistake again.

I really enjoyed myself with this project. I think it all turned out nice, but I will probably try a few things differently next time. Thanks for reading!