About the Artist’s work
artist’s statement:
“Some days, their form is barely discernible through veils of mist which part from time to time, allowing only glimpses of a bleak, grey silhouette. I’ve been exploring the elemental interplay of light, water and horizon in my work since moving to Wester Ross some years ago and my perception of the Shiant Isles has been limited to my view of them from my home and studio as enigmatic silhouettes on the distant horizon.
From my vantage point on the mainland, they are, despite their diminished scale, a compelling presence on the horizon. The Shiants are like defiant rocky fists, thrusting their way up through the waves, interrupting the visual plane. The idea of their remoteness, their detachment from the world appeals to me as something which I have been keen to explore.
Last summer, I finally set foot on the Isles. When seen at close proximity, they embody an idea I’ve always had, as a Canadian, of ‘The North’, in their austere, rugged and uncompromising beauty.
The islands are teeming with life and a richness which I hadn’t imagined; the sheer scale and drama of the daunting cliffs of columnar basalt rising from the sea is overpowering. I’m beginning to explore the new, enriched, more immediate perspective which I now have of this extraordinary place and to create a new body of work inspired by what I have experienced.”
a slideshow of work (drawings and paintings) inspired by the islands:
a slideshow of photographic images:
GENERAL BIOGRAPHY
Born in Canada, Alison began her studies there before continuing in France and Britain. In 1982, she came to Scotland to undertake postgraduate studies at Edinburgh College of Art, and has made Scotland her home.
In 1989 Alison was elected a member of the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW) and is a past Vice-President of the Society. She also served as President of Visual Arts Scotland for three years in the late 1990s and has been made an Honorary Life Member.
She was a founding Director of The Exhibiting Societies of Scottish Artists (ESSA) and a founding member of the Edinburgh College of Art Alumni Association. She was Honorary Arts Convenor of the Scottish Arts Club, Edinburgh from 2001-2004.
Twice the recipient of the Elizabeth T Greenshields Foundation Scholarship, she was short-listed several times for the Noble Grossart Painting Prize and received the Alexander Graham Munro Award from the RSW in 1997 and the John Gray Prize in 2007. Most recently, she received the Walter Scott Award at the RSW’s Annual Open Exhibition in November 2018, in Edinburgh.
Her oils and watercolours are widely held in both public and private collections throughout the UK and Canada have been featured in exhibitions at the following commercial galleries:
LONDON: Panter and Hall, Mayfair; Tracey McNee Fine Art; Thompson's Gallery; The Piccadilly Gallery; The Thackeray Gallery; The Red Rag Gallery and The Bruton Gallery, both in Bath.
SCOTTISH GALLERIES: Fidra Fine Art, Gullane; The Gullane Gallery, Gullane; Gallery Heinzel, Aberdeen; An Talla Solais, Ullapool; The Wade Gallery, Elie, Fife; Fraser Gallery, St. Andrews; The Quay Gallery, Aberdour; Randolph Gallery, Edinburgh; The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh; The Scottish Gallery, Edinburgh; The Stenton Gallery, Stenton; The Strathearn Gallery, Crieff; Roger Bilcliffe Gallery, Glasgow; Tracey McNee Fine Art , Glasgow.
CANADA: Galerie Rochon, Toronto
Open exhibitions include:
The Royal Scottish Academy; The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour; The Royal Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts; Visual Arts Scotland.
