Made in Vermont: Vermont Fluid Art

RICHMOND, Vt. (WCAX) - A pandemic art project has turned into a hobby and side hustle for a Richmond woman. Our Elissa Borden introduces you to Vermont Fluid Art.

When we think of painting, a hairdryer isn’t usually the application method that comes to mind.

“That’s all I’m going to do with the blow dryer, and rest I’m going to mouth blow to get the composition I’m looking for,” Shanna McCabe said.

No paint brushes here, Vermont Fluid Art is unlike most art you’ve probably ever seen. And it all started as a pandemic homeschooling art project.

“This was just something to do with the kids, something getting messy and I was just fascinated by what happened. It seemed wildly out of my control, it was gorgeous and I used a lot of shimmer,” McCabe said.

But this hobby has progressed far past arts and crafts at the kitchen table with her daughter, nieces and nephew.

“I keep doing it because I can’t stop,” McCabe said. “It’s sort of addictive. I love color and I love being able to play with color and create things.”

In late 2020, McCabe launched her website, Pour Little Me, first as a blog, and now as an online store. Her paintings are available for sale on canvas, but she offers earrings and necklaces that are made using the excess paint from each work of art.

“When I’m doing a pour, there’s a lot of tilting involved and I’ll just dip a piece of glass or plastic into the runoff if I see a beautiful spot that I just want to preserve forever,” McCabe explained.

The process involves pouring a lot of paint onto canvas, while gravity and paint density do most of the work. Most of these techniques, McCabe says, she learned from YouTube.

“Every single pour that I do is different, the outcome I can never recreate the same thing twice. Nobody can. So it’s really neat to see just adjusting, just little tweaks what a big difference the outcome will be,” she said.

Whether it be an accessory or a piece of decor, Vermont Fluid Art has no two pieces that are exactly the same. The only thing they have in common is a wealth of glittery, beautiful, explosions of color, and the fact that they’re made in Vermont.

McCabe also does commissions and offers instruction in fluid art.

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