Mess and art mingle while students escape finals stress

Feverish minds, bulging with complex studies and course materials, burst with creative… Feverish minds, bulging with complex studies and course materials, burst with creative fervor.

Striving to add meaning to an otherwise barren canvas, Pitt students indulged in the lighthearted and often abstract art of finger-painting last Tuesday. The elegance of the William Pitt Union Ballroom clashed with playful air in the room.

For one event in a four-part series called Finals Survival Week, Pitt Program Council bought approximately $75 worth of non-toxic finger paints, shiny Crayola painting paper and Styrofoam plates, which served as primitive pallets.

An assortment of color choices was offered, ranging from neon shades to primary colors. The buffet- style selection of color and paper led students to a round painting studio with no walls and four chairs, where they assembled their materials and began the creation process.

Undergraduate student Alana Bly commented on the consistency, texture and scent of the paint. Another student said that the act of finger-painting, as well as the “nauseous” fumes, jolted her back to preschool.

Bly smeared a dripping puddle of paint onto her palms and fingers and carefully pressed her hand onto the sterile canvas, leaving behind a glittery, hot pink, black, and silver imprint of her hand. She completed the work with her signature: a thumbprint.

Bly continued to paint two twirling fairies, one purple and one yellow. Absorbed in her painting, she looked up and said, “I just love color and texture.”

Participating students left their finished masterpieces behind because the globular, thick paints took a long time to dry. One work, reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s abstract expressionist style, was left to wait until its owner claimed it.

Themes of Christmas often emerged in the multitude of images. Green Christmas trees, red, shiny bulbs and gold-glittered stars appeared throughout the night, all signs of the oncoming Christmas jubilee.

Allison Martin, student and member of the Leisure Learning Committee, was present to instruct and supervise the participants.

According to Martin, the evening of finger-painting was a success.

“It really relaxes you – it settles you down,” she said.

Martin observed students pouring the paints onto the paper and mixing from there. Some signed their names in the pools of wet paint.

Although the paintings were individual expressions, each artist shared one thing in common; each utilized an extension of him- or herself – fingers – as a tool for creative outlet.