GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Herald sat down with Heather Krause, a pour painter who has spinocerebellar ataxia, which is a progressive, genetic neurological disease, for 5 Questions this week.
Q: How did you get into pour painting?
A: I’ve always been an artist all of my life, and I used to be very detailed and spend hours doing whatever I was doing — drawing, painting or whatever. It just got to be that I couldn't do that minute detail anymore and I couldn’t do for so long, so I had to try finding ways to find something that you can loosen up with, and I have found that in poor painting. I stumbled across it by accident, really. I was looking online at painting videos, and that was one of the suggested videos, so I watched it. I tried it out eventually myself, and I loved it. I just picked it up from there
Q: Can you explain what pour painting is?
A: Basically, you’re painting, but you’re not using a brush. What you're doing is you're mixing paint and then you’re layering it in a cup and you're pouring that layered paint out onto the canvas, and there's various ways you can do this. Basically, you’re using a cup, and the only control you have is you have to learn the different paints. Each brand of paint is a different weight and viscosity. So, some paints are going to rise and fall and change in look as the paint dries. So, you’re also going to approach it with a project with an artist's eye. There is a weight and a balance to the pour painting in the final piece.
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Q: How long does it take you to make a pour painting?
A: If it's a small one, mixing the paint takes the longest time and getting them in the right viscosity, hat can take you 30 minutes or so, on average. And actually putting it on takes like five minutes, if it’s a small canvas.
Q: Does spinocerebellar ataxia make artwork more difficult to make?
A: Yeah. I used to be a very quite detailed artist with my drawings and paintings, and I would do people. But I can't do figures and people anymore, or landscapes. So, what pour painting it's kind of like going with the flow. There's no constraints. You don't have to stay within the lines. You can experiment. If you're just starting out and you're just learning, you can have fun with it. Pick your colors and get some glue and water and start. You don’t need to go to school for it, or anything, so there's no hard and fast rules on how to do it. There are guidelines and recipes, but as you're finessing your techniques and learning the different techniques and getting better, then you learn which recipes are for what pour and the different techniques you can do and all the jargon.
Q: Do you do artwork commissions?
A: Yes, and I can ship anywhere in the U.S. It has to be within the border of the USA. It can't be Hawaii or Alaska. But I can ship anywhere else. And basically, if you look on my website, which is www.artbyheatherkraus.com , there is a commission form, and they can go on there, fill out the commission form and we can go from there. I can help if they don't know for sure what they want. I can totally help guide them and find a color scheme that works for them, or if they want just a small piece or a large focal piece for their dining room.
