My friends Heather, Aury, and I took over Shot of Art in New York City – an art and entertainment space in Midtown Manhattan (NYC) for fun and unique painting experiences.
We did the Shooting and Spinning and Fluid Art classes, and they were so much fun!
The experience got me reflecting on my journey relocating from home (Malawi), and having to make new friends as a young adult in a metropolitan city, which most can admit to finding challenging. I consider myself lucky, to have found gems like Heather and Aury on my journey, and I share some of the things I do to be able to make and keep friends in this video:
Shooting and Spinning
- Playful experience
- Unpredictable results
- A balloon shooting game and a creation of an artwork at the same time
- Think about a proper color balance while choosing the colors
- Use your sense of color and balance to stop spinning your painting at the right moment for a desirable result
Spinning
- A fun experience for children
- It’s like a game to shoot paint from syringes to create your artwork
- Spinning is an unconventional part of the creation process
- An important part of the creative process is to understand how colors work with each other
- Color coordination is essential for creating a spin painting
Dripping
- The drip painting is a form of abstract art
- This is not just painting the canvas – this is an *action* painting
- Unconventional tools are used: not only brushes but also syringes and sticks
- You can create a Jackson-Pollock-like painting
- The style was pioneered by Max Ernst and Francis Picabia
- The technique can be performed flat on the ground
- It’s safer to create horizontal canvases versus vertical to prevent paint from running
- A similar drip technique (‘sand painting’) was used by the Navajo people
Fluid Art
With fluid art – Fantastic patterns obtained using acrylic paints, silicone, and gas burner will not leave you indifferent. This painting technique allows a person without experience to create abstract paintings that can be proudly hung in their interior or given to friends. This experience lasts 1 hour.
The art room experience is a great chance to use your imagination and use the opportunity to draw on doors, walls, ceilings, chairs, etc in a great atmosphere! This experience lasts 20 minutes.
- Provides the most mindful and meditative experience
- Good for keeping a conversation during the workshop
- Great for family and friend bonding
- Suitable for toddlers and little children to develop their fine motor skills
- Resembles a watercolor technique but results in a more abstract and dense painting
Please note: It takes about 4 days to dry the painting and you will have to come to pick up your artwork. Shot of art store clients artwork just for 2 weeks so please come to pick it up in this time period (daily except Mondays 1 pm-8 pm).
To learn more about Shot of Art, or to make a reservation, visit their website.
All ages. Children allowed.