It’s that time of year when everyone is going on summer vacations or looking for new activities to do with their friends and families. At Hawaii Fluid Art, we have the perfect vacation (or “staycation”) experience: Spin Art.
Spinning paint takes advantage of rotational motion to create beautiful images filled with colors, lines and shapes. Using paint, a canvas, and a special platform, Spin Art is very easy for all ages. It teaches children about radial balance and symmetry － fundamental concepts of design that are essential not only in art but also in geometry, physics, biology and human anatomy. Examples of this principle are all around us, from snowflakes to bicycle wheels to flowers.
A Brief History of Spin Art
Eugene R. Pera is credited with being the first known artist to produce, display and promote Spin Art. In 1958 and 1959, he appeared on network TV’s popular shows, “What’s My Line” and “I’ve Got a Secret” and introduced his “Painting Machine”,
which used a vertical spinning canvas on which he carefully threw the contents of small paint cans. The show’s hosts, Jack Parr and Hugh Downs, as well as their celebrity guests, were enthralled. According to Mr. Pera, “We are living in the Machine Age. Since machines have taken over so many tasks previously done by the human hand, my Painting Machine enables anyone to make dramatic abstract art.”
Today, you often see Spin Art in the works of other artists, such as Damien Hirst, who is reportedly the UK’s richest living artist. Many of these artists reconfigure their own spin painting machines to incorporate more powerful engines.
Fun at Every Turn
At our studios, you can use large turntables (commonly known as Lazy Susans) to spin canvases. As the canvas rotates, centrifugal force draws the wet paint outwards, creating intricate designs. You can drip more paint onto the canvas while it is spinning to layer colors on top of each other and create different effects and blend colors together into subtle designs. At any point during this process, you can stop the spinning platform to view the canvas. When the platform has stopped spinning, you will experience what we call a “magic moment”: the pleasant surprise you feel when you see your final creation. Don’t say we didn’t warn you － Spin Art can be addictive!
Hawaii Fluid Art’s mission is to inspire and nurture the human spirit, one painting at a time.
Not all of our Hawaii Fluid Art studios offer Spin Art experiences. Here is a peek at Spin Art at our Mansfield, Texas location.
