my love-hate relationship with acrylic paint

14 June 2025

In this newsletter:

My love-hate relationship with acrylic paint
Quick exhibition updates
New paintings and collages

Last Thursday was World Environment Day, it got me thinking about the different things I do as an artist to try and minimise my impact on the environment.

I love acrylic paint, but I hate that it is essentially plastic...

🧻 So back to those baby wipes, and kitchen roll {yes I know the icon is toilet roll, close as I could get!}. They dry out, they get reused -and reused- until they look pretty with paint. I have even used them in my paintings!

This is how I try my best to keep acrylic out of our water and waste:

🖌️ I rarely use brushes – a water brush is good for details and you can squeeze it and paint on scrap paper until the brush runs clean. When I do use 'normal' brushes I wipe off as much as I can on paper, a baby wipe (see below) and sometimes onto my gel plate. Then I wash in a small tub of water. Occasionally under a running tap into the tub. I let that sit and evaporate. I have a nice crusty-bottomed container now… but I rarely need to use it. Not having to remember to wash out a pot full of brushes at the end of a painting session is a huge win! What do I use instead? Mostly I use silicone tools, baking scrapers, old plastic bank or gift cards or even a scrap of thin cardboard, rollers, and collage papers…

Psst... you’ll currently find these for a great price in my web shop!

To the shop!

🎨 … and what about a painting palette? Well, I use my gel plate(s) as a palette – when the session is over I roll out left-over paint and take a print. That way I also get interesting papers in the same colours as my painting... you know, just incase I need them!

How else do I help the environment?

I have a box I labelled 'saved from the recycling' that contains many different objects with a variety of surfaces that can be used for printing with, from bubble wrap to textured card, from my kids old school clothes to the bottom of biscuit trays! The truth is though that I have more than one box: I have at least 4, plus a drawer, part of my trolley some tubs on the windowsill and a paper bag full ...at least!

I tried to go through them to see what I might not need anymore but they all make such interesting prints it was quite difficult to chuck anything away!

The flowers in Monsieur's Meadow are Ferrero Rocher cases I used for printing. When their patterns were no longer making clear imprints, I added them to my painting. The poppies in Poppies at Sunset are ties from Christmas crackers that I dip-dyed in acrylic ink. I have plans to use printed card textures and bubble wrap in paintings too! Watch this space...

Did you celebrate world environment day? Did this make you think about your impact on the environment? Do you have any of your own tips you can share with me? Hit reply to let me know, I'd love to hear from you!

Quick exhibition update…

Ordinary Beauty, curated by Gabriella Buckingham, at The Point Contemporary in Cromer, Norfolk, UK has been extended until 29 June. I still have two paintings available in this exhibition. There's some gorgeous work by other contemporary artists, and can be viewed online if you're not local. GET THE DETAILS HERE!

People, Places, Patterns, Pots and Plants is the successor to last years Patterns, Pots and Plants! Susan Webb and I will be showing a group of paintings with a wider subject range, but all celebrating our love of pattern, in The Three Hares Gallery, Cowper & Newton Museum, Olney, Bucks. from 2 – 30 July. GET THE DETAILS HERE!

Two of my paintings will be part of a display in the Discover Hub at Rushden Lakes to help showcase Northants and Rutland Open Studios and all it has to offer, from July – October! More details coming soon.

New work

Inspired by my time in Morocco and The Charles Rennie Mackintosh House (78 Derngate) in Northampton. The still lifes were created while working on Gabriella Buckingham's Experimental still life course.