Perry Hall begins by discussing how the decalcomania paintings of Max Ernst prompted him to ask, How does one grow a painting? His early decalcomania paintings led to experiments with impasto for sculptural effects. In 1997 Hall created video studies of paint moving, from which came the first "live paintings,"--videos of paint moving in tanks. Hall introduced sound, and experimented with ferrofluids. Hall describes his recent black and white turbulence drawings. He concludes by stressing that he is not an illustrator, but uses these tools to create conditions where the unexpected can happen.