Artist Creates Sparkling Acrylic Paintings With Cells

Fluid Artist Creates Mesmerizing Paintings by Purposefully Blending Paints

By Sarah Currier on February 26, 2024

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A post shared by Nancy Wood (@nancywoodarts)

It is always impressive to see what artists can create with simple materials. Nancy Wood is no different. Armed with only a palette knife and her technical expertise, Wood creates stunning fluid art by smearing glittery acrylic paint across a canvas. Wood's paintings, with their crackly appearance, are reminiscent of designs found on blown glass. By mixing acrylic paint and a catalyst, she is able to create circular cells that bubble across the piece.

There is something incredibly peaceful about watching Wood paint as she carefully spreads dazzling acrylic over the canvas. Sometimes, her palette knife moves in a wavy pattern or renders sublime swirls. In other cases, Wood daubs short little lines, later going back over them and blending them into more free-spirited patterns. If you would like to see timelapse videos of Wood's artistic process, she regularly posts reels to her Instagram showcasing just that.

As impressive as Wood's fluid paintings are, it would be remiss not to mention her other skills. She initially started out as a watercolor artist, specializing in floral paintings. After becoming inspired by the work of other artists, she switched to acrylics. Over the course of her multi-decade career in the arts, Wood has also designed furniture using stainless steel, glass, and hardwoods.

Wood currently has an online course on Vimeo where you can learn how to create paintings like she does. To keep up with the artist’s creative journey, you can follow her on Instagram.