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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Alison Lilley Berrett was born in 1967 in Weston-super-Mare and spent her childhood there. She graduated from Exeter College of Art and Design in 1991 with a degree in Fine Art. In 1994 she qualified as an Art teacher and taught at Cheney School in Oxford for three years. After taking a break to have children she then decided to pursue her creative career. She found a studio to rent in Cowley road in November 2003 and shortly afterwards her work was selected from a number of applicants for the Oxford Show held at Modern Art Oxford in February 2004. As a result of this she was awarded the Trevor Osborne prize of a solo show at the O3 Gallery in Oxford as part of the castle heritage project.
Alison works mainly with oil paints on board and pastels and charcoal on paper. This is supplemented with photographs and drawings often produced on site. Her inspiration comes essentially from nature and is the result of a passion for the colours, shapes, patterns, beauty and scale of the natural world we live in.
All the characteristics of the landscape are very important to her but she is captivated by the drama and magnificence of places like Dartmoor and the coast. The sea in its many moods has had a profound effect upon her work and she has been known to place herself in the most extreme weather conditions in order to capture the power of the wind and rain. From her enthusiasm for colour she loves to experiment with different combinations as if trying to make a new discovery. Another common theme running through her work stems from a fascination for the atmosphere and awe created by the designers and craftsmen of cathedrals and churches. They too were heavily influenced by nature and intended these majestic buildings to bring glory to God and his creation. Alison repeatedly uses expressive marks and gestures taken from the shapes and structures of this remarkable architecture. Combining all this with her imagination she produces work, which expresses her joy and wonder of life.
At present she works in a studio at the Ark-T centre, which is a community project, based at John Bunyan Baptist Church in Cowley. It is a privilege to work there with other artists, as it is possible to help, encourage and enthuse one another.
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