Alison Orchard - Biography

Alison was born in Wimbledon in 1971. Painting from her Surrey-based studio, she frequently spends time in Cornwall, soaking up its dramatic coastlines, which provide a great source of inspiration. When at home, she is often painting the Surrey Hills and surrounding big skies.

From an early age Alison has embraced her enthusiasm for Fine art, with frequent visits to The St. Ives School of Art, taking her formal art training at Epsom School of Art & Design and Harrow College, University of Westminster (B.A. hons).Parallel to her love of painting, Alison maintained a successful career as a commercial illustrator and designer, working initially for the Daily Telegraph and going on to run her own business. Alison has consistently painted and practiced life drawing, running her own Life drawing workshops with other artists.

Alison is excited by the very stuff of paint. She enjoys pushing the limits of the paint with responsive mark making, hoping to convey something of the energy that resonates between land and sea, light and air."My aim is to create that 'dynamic' which is found when there is a fine balance between emerging abstraction, whilst maintaining subtle visual references to the seascape."

Alison works responsively with acrylic paint and mixed media on canvas or board, allowing the image to evolve through palette knife, brushstrokes and the added dimension of pencil and collage. 

Alongside her exhibitions in Surrey & Portugal, Alison's work has been shown at several prominent art fairs as well as previous exhibitions in London. She has a growing following and her paintings are held in private collections.