Mixing a Big Batch of Acrylic Paint for Problem Solving Multi-Pours

Remember that batch of paint you mixed that absolutely blew you away because it was so beautiful? Did you regret not having more because the colors were magnificent and worked so well together—and you wanted to make more pours with those exact colors? Well, I have, many times. Many, many times. I’m not the type of pourer who meticulously measures and makes notes of my colors and recipes. I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda pourer.

Today I selected a really vibrant color palette and absolutely every color was one of my favorites. Together, they were truly spectacular and I decided to make a BIG BATCH of these wonderful colors so I could literally go wild. Aren’t they gorgeous?

Supplies I used:

• Apple Barrel Paint in Parakeet, Bright Magenta, Lime Tree and Laguna
• Artist’s Loft Paint in Metallic Purple, Metallic Cobalt Blue and Metallic Blue
• Floetrol
• KY True Feel
• Solo Cups
• Craft Sticks
• Canvas

Now, there is a story behind the color selection. And a reason for the big pour project. Let me tell you about our “stinkin’ squirrel” problem.

We have a nice little back yard with several oak trees, a large maple and an incredible garden my husband created and tends—to produce veggies for our table. He grows cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, eggplant, peppers of all kinds, onions, potatoes, okra…oh, the list goes on and varies by season.

I love bird watching and have houses, feeders, baths, a flower garden and adore dramatic color everywhere. Needless to say, our backyard attracts many birds. It’s absolutely delightful to sit at the kitchen table and watch birds of all size and color swoop in for their morning sunflower seeds.

The problem is that the squirrel community loves our garden and our bird feeders, too. If they would just take some of the seed and move along we probably wouldn’t care but those little suckers get on the bird feeders and steal all the seeds before the poor birds get a chance to have a proper meal. They have absolutely no shame!

Several of my bird feeders hang from chains attached to branches in our oak trees, so my clever husband decided to put a piece of PVC pipe over the chain thinking the squirrels would slide right off and fall to the ground.

But no…the stinkin’ squirrels actually shimmied down the pole like they were working at a strip club near the airport and went right to the feeder and continued to forage.

So then, my clever husband decided to put an old flower pot on top of the PVC pipe, to prevent them from getting to the pipe. Shazam it worked! But now I had to stare at an old, ugly, white PVC pipe with red letters down the side and a crusty black and brown flower pot at the top of it.

My beautiful backyard oasis was starting to look like an episode of Sanford and Sons. Did I just date myself? Okay, how about Here Comes Honey Boo Boo? Well, suffice to say I loved that the stinkin’ squirrels couldn’t negotiate the pot and the PVC pipe combination but I wanted pretty—not trashy.

So, like any good pourer who truly loves color, I decided to pour the PVC pipe/bucket invention. I liked the effect so much that I asked my husband to fix the other bird feeder and that led to this article. The first one was reds, oranges, yellows, and white and I loved how it turned out.

But I didn’t want the second one to be the same colors. I searched Pinterest for a color palette and came up with my theme. Once the colors were selected, I knew I wanted to use those colors on other projects so I made a BIG BATCH of the colors needed and prepared to pour over the invention, and a few canvases.

Here it is!

My husband must be terrified of what I’ll pour over next.