Alison Simons

I use fluid acrylic paints mixed with a variety of ingredients, for example, paint conditioner, varnish, isopropyl alcohol, water, and silicone oil, and pour them onto my substrate including canvases, wooden panels and shapes, ceramic tiles, vases, and pots, amongst others. The way I pour and/or layer the paints give a different outcome. The different ingredients interact with the paint creating various, unique effects. The consistency of the paint and ratios of ingredients must be exactly right for each technique.

Once the paint is on the substrate, I use different methods of manipulating it, including air, gravity, dragging, pressing and swiping. I enjoy using, and experimenting with, unconventional tools, such as a hairdryer, string, chain, cling film, kitchen roll, bottle bottoms, skewers, and acetate sheet.

Once the initial paint pour has dried, I often embellish the paintings using traditional brushwork. I love combining the freedom and expression of the paint pouring with the precision and meticulous details of the brushwork, where abstract meets realism. Sometimes I will use mixed media to embellish my work.

My work is inspired by my love of fantasy and nature, both of which offer a source of escapism for me, reflecting my childhood, which was spent either in the great outdoors, or buried in a good book. This escapism is something I aim to provide the viewer through my paintings. My work features the likes of dragons, the phoenix, fairies, otherworldly landscapes, ocean scenes, flora and fauna.