Things seemed to go a bit more smoothly once I brought out some spatulas to smear the paint around with, and some other tricks of the abstract-painting trade (such as using tiny bubble wrap dipped in paint for an interesting honey-comb effect).
So, Ellen was happy in the end...
And so were the rest of us:
Welcome back Angela, by the way!
So, the paintings, close-up, and all together at the end: