Paul Powis began his training as an abstract artist at the Birmingham College of Art and Design, followed by Portsmouth Polytechnic, where he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in Fine Art. After completing his formal training, Powis began lecturing on art in London and elsewhere. This career has lasted over twenty-five years, including twenty years of lecturing on Drawing and Paintings at the University of Central England, where he has been since 1988. Powis also paints prolifically and has been exhibiting his artwork since he was a student. His landscape paintings have been displayed around England and abroad, including shows at the Royal College of Art, the Royal Festival Hall, and the Medici Gallery as well as museums and art galleries in the United States such as the Museum of Modern Illustration in New York City. His work has also been featured in numerous advertising campaigns and publications.

Powis is best known for his landscape paintings. These paintings are remarkable for the way Powis is able to relate the dynamic rhythms of nature on paper and canvas, using “subjective color and vibrant mark making” in both abstract and realist ways. Utilizing tonal gradations, shadow, light, and reflection, his paintings bring two-dimensional images to life. Inspired by artists of all movements including Balthus, Corot, Hopper, Matisse, Mondrian, Picasso, and Sisley, Powis uses various techniques and styles in a single piece of art to create a unique feel. He explains, “as an abstract painter who is known primarily for landscape work, I constantly blur the boundaries between abstraction and representation.” In this way, Powis creates brilliant, vibrant, and exciting paintings.