Ayla
Abstract Painter · Houston, TX
Ayla Nau is an abstract painter based in Houston, TX. Working with acrylic on paper in single uninterrupted sessions, she builds dense layered fields of color using a wet-on-wet technique that creates depth, texture, and luminosity unique to each piece.Each painting emerges through a fluid, unplanned process guided by instinct. Titles come first, even before the first brushstroke, rooted in emotion, waiting for the painting to arrive and meet them.Acrylic on paper. Made by hand in Houston.
I'm Ayla Nau, an abstract painter based in Houston, TX. I work with acrylic on paper in single uninterrupted sessions, building dense layered fields of color using a wet-on-wet technique that creates depth, texture, and luminosity unique to each piece.I learned to paint through paint by numbers. Working section by section, color by color, I learned that every part of the canvas deserves equal attention, it's a philosophy that became the foundation of my entire practice. When I transitioned to freeform painting, the brush felt less like a tool and more like an extension of that same instinct. Paint by numbers made the blank canvas approachable. It took away the intimidation and replaced it with curiosity.I discovered my layering technique through a $5 ceramic dragon. The process of building wet paint over wet paint without waiting for anything to dry, what one friend calls the onion method, became the foundation of every painting I create. Layer on top of layer on top of layer, each one a beautiful layer just like life.I title every painting before I make it. Before a single brushstroke, I sit with the title and think about what it means to me, the feelings it evokes, the emotional world it lives in. I write that down. Then the music starts and the painting arrives to meet everything I've already felt about it.My work is joyful, abundant, and made entirely by hand. Over 100 paintings since November 2024. I paint because it is simply what I do.