The website of the National Acrylic Painters’ Association. A non-profit making group organised by artists for artists
NAPA
National Acrylic Painters’ Association
Gail Wareham
My Acrylic work is inspired by my surroundings,
both urban & rural. I feel that nature provides us
with an endless source of material, and I like to
embrace this in my work. Colour vibrancy is
important to me; making strong colours work
together in a natural setting gives me personal
satisfaction. Having been in Crete for the last 7
years I have seen a different spectrum of colours in
my surroundings, and at first it seemed impossible
to get these colours to sit naturally on a canvas, but
with time & perseverance I managed to find a way
to capture the colours with Acrylics in a way that
just wasn’t possible with other media.
I have used Acrylic paints for many years, and
have developed a way of painting with them that
gives a contemporary feel to what can only be
described as very traditional subjects. My initial
work with Acrylics was to apply them to a support
using muted, pre-mix tones, in a light, almost
transparent manner. However, this changed
around 5 years ago, when I started working on
larger canvas and really felt that the paint needed
to speak more because of the size – it needed to
have visual volume. So I now use Acrylics straight
from the tubes and rarely (only for certain technical
effects) water the pigment. Some areas of my
paintings are now quite impasto and I love the
feeling of depth this brings to certain subjects.
I teach in Acrylics too. I find that many traditional oil
paint users are quite intimidated by Acrylic paint,
but it gives me endless joy to see their faces once
they master the techniques to use this amazing
medium.
I studied art at Grammar School back in the 1980’s
and went on in later life to study again at College
as an adult student. Until 2008 I ran a small
business creating personalised house plaques and
carried out demonstrations at shows in the South of
England. I didn’t start teaching en plein air until 10
years ago, and it is now a large part of my career.
The thing is, that however much I love to teach and
pass on my knowledge of the Acrylic medium,
there is a little piece of me that wants to show my
personal artwork too, so I get involved with as
many exhibitions as possible whether they are in
Crete or in the UK. I am based in Hampshire when
in the UK which gives me a great central position
for getting out to other Counties for exhibition
purposes.
paintpaleochora@hotmail.com / Tel: 0030 694 346 3920
