From Watercolour to Acrylics: Painting Joy Without Rules

 Sometimes creativity does not ask for a plan. It simply asks us to begin.

This weekend, I stepped away from the familiar flow of watercolour and found myself painting with acrylics—a medium with a completely different set of rules.

I am a self-taught intuitive artist, and one of the things I continue to wrestle with is the relationship between control, confidence and knowing when to stop painting. I have never believed that I can draw particularly well. Ask me to draw a portrait without guidance and the head, arms and other important bits might resemble pieces from a game of Operation. Putting everything together sensibly would be the real challenge!

But perhaps that is also why intuitive painting feels so freeing to me. I do not need to begin with a perfect drawing. I can begin with my feelings, colour, emotion and movement—and discover the painting as I go.

A Need to Create Joy

Joy in Full Colour — original intuitive acrylic floral painting by Nicky Bourke.

This weekend, someone young and deeply loved in our family experienced something difficult. I will keep the details private, but the news left me with a powerful need to create joy.

It was also a wet-weather day here in Waikanae—the sort of day that invites you to stay inside, cover the table and open the brightest paints you can find.

So that is exactly what I did.

I chose vivid acrylic colours and began applying them to the paper without a plan or expectation. I was not trying to make the painting behave. I simply wanted to throw colour, energy and hope at the surface in front of me.  I wanted to see and feel some joy.

The Day My Kitchen Spatula Became an Art Tool

At some point, I walked into the kitchen and returned with a soft silicone spatula.

I began using it like a palette knife—which, by the way, I had never used before. The spatula pushed and swept the acrylic paint into wonderfully unexpected shapes. Suddenly, I could see flowers, leaves and a garden of abundance beginning to emerge.

Then I added some moulding gel, another material I had never worked with before. It created raised areas, texture and movement across the surface. I loved what it showed me.

My daughter emerged from the other room, looked at what I was holding and exclaimed:

“What are you using that for? It’s for the kitchen!”

I laughed. I suppose we all use the gifts and tools we are given—and that day, the kitchen gave me a spatula.

I will now try to buy myself a silicone palette knife and continue playing with it later this week. Although I suspect the humble kitchen spatula may always have a special place in this story.

Two Paintings and a Different Kind of Confidence

By the end of the day, I had created two abundant floral paintings in acrylics. Both are filled with rich layers, expressive marks and joyful colour—and I am genuinely pleased with them.

More importantly, I felt a little better inside.

Painting could not change the difficult news that inspired me to begin, but it gave that emotion somewhere to go. It allowed me to turn helplessness into colour and to make something joyful during a moment when people I love were not experiencing much joy themselves.

Perhaps confidence does not always arrive before we begin. Sometimes it grows because we are willing to begin without it.

Sometimes we do not need perfect tools, perfect technique or even a clear plan. We simply need to trust the impulse to create—and see what appears.

These Floral Designs Are Coming to The Papercraft Studio

These new acrylic floral paintings will become part of The Papercraft Studio. I am now exploring how their colour, movement and texture can be translated into beautiful products for the home and for giving.

The designs will be available to purchase on products such as art prints, stationery, greeting cards, wrapping paper, home décor and gifts through my Zazzle stores. Products are printed to order and available to shoppers in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

I will share the finished collection and direct shopping links as soon as the first products are ready.

Freedom in Bloom — original intuitive acrylic floral painting by Nicky Bourke.

Visit The Papercraft Studio and shop my art worldwide →

For now, here are the paintings—and the joyful, slightly chaotic afternoon that brought them into being.

Have you ever discovered an unexpected household tool that became part of your creative process? I would love to hear about it.

— Nicky Bourke
Self-taught intuitive New Zealand artist
Waikanae Paper Artist · The Papercraft Studio