Acrylic Painting
Artist
Lucy Nicholls
2025
My acrylic painting practice largely involves sporadic and automatic painting expressed in bursts of unfiltered energy between the demands of motherhood, work, family, and modern life. I express my emotions triggered by events in my environment, past experiences and future aspirations when I paint. A common thread through all my work is the expression of integration and Oneness. There are few clear cut lines.
I am particularly inspired to express myself upon encounters that trigger a sense of imbalance or disharmony that may provoke anxious energy. I use color as a symbolic medium that finds its relevance in one’s own context. I don’t think when I paint, I paint from my subconscious automatically. Sometimes a loose vision will form in my mind in advance, and I will be compelled to paint it.
I like using acrylic for this practice because it is quick drying allowing me to swiftly paint layers without thought before the mood and energy shifts, unlike oil-based paint which requires more dry time, and therefore potential for rumination. I use a combination of paint brushes, pallet brushes, and sponges when embracing this style of painting.
high wind
Each can arrive at their own contextual interpretation. I saw this image in my mind while driving back from a shamanic reiki session Upstate New York in March of 2025. The painting was mostly completed start to finish within 20 minutes before I had to pick my daughter up from nursery school. Some remaining touches were made the same evening after she fell asleep. The colors say it all.
2025








Automatic
Completed in May of 2025 this piece was inspired in advance of a work trip to Milan, Italy to visit Prada Group and to visit the organizers of the Retail Summit by Shop Talk in Barcelona. Despite the wonderful and hard-fought opportunities, the lead up to work travel, especially overseas travel, evoked strong emotions and anxiety for me as I juggled my own work-induced stressors as a young mother leaving my young daughter, alongside the pressures of trying to organize replacement domestic, mothering, and emotional labor in the household during my absence.
2025








