APPEARING ON THE SCENE IN THE LATE 1940S, acrylics quickly acquired fans because the paints, amenable to a variety of applications, dry fast and clean up easily. Tom Martin, who prefers precision, dispenses acrylic by way of an airbrush (“The Colors of Money,” page 52). Patti Brady, more rhapsodic, sometimes combines acrylic with collage, but her newest work is composed of Plexiglas panels and mirrors that collect and reflect ambient light (see Red Velvet, above). Another innovator, Bruno Capolongo, paints pictures of broken pottery on broken panels that he puts back together with acrylic paint and gold dust—a process that mirrors the traditional Japanese practice of Kintsugi. More straightforward are Carole Malcolm’s evocations of the sea and forests (see our cover). Read about the processes behind these three artists’ stunning…