About Andy J L Main

Andy Main is a Scottish-trained art therapist and abstract painter, based in Germany’s Harz region, where he has lived and worked for over fifteen years.

Painting is where I slow down and become most present. It’s a way of listening — to material, to time, and to what emerges when I stay with a surface long enough. I work primarily in acrylics and mixed media, building paintings in layers that evolve through sustained attention rather than fixed plans.

My process is intuitive and responsive. Each mark suggests the next, creating an ongoing dialogue between myself and the canvas. What remains visible is only the final surface. Beneath it lies a quiet history of decisions — moments of uncertainty, revision, and resolution — much like the way our own experiences shape who we become.

Alongside my studio practice, I work as an art therapist in a children’s psychology hospital in Germany. I hold an MSc in Art Therapy and an MA in Psychology from Scottish universities. This dual practice deeply informs my understanding of art as something relational — a space where meaning forms through engagement, patience, and trust in the process.

Working therapeutically has taught me what it means to sit with uncertainty, to continue when nothing seems to be working, and to recognise that transformation often happens beneath the surface, long before it becomes visible. The creative act reminds me that failure is not an end point, but part of the substrate — that beauty can emerge from chaos, and that it’s possible to begin again.

My paintings grow out of this same understanding. They are made slowly, shaped by time and attention, and offered as quiet companions — works to live with, not rush past.