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Seascapes of the Soul - Unleashed, by Alison Berrett

Alison Berrett

Unison Colour Associate Artist

www.alisonberrettartist.com

About:

Alison Berrett went to Exeter College of Art and Design and studied Fine Art to degree level and then qualified as an Art Teacher at Exeter University.
Thirty years on and she is an experienced Teacher, Mother to two sons, Freelance Artist, Artist-in-Residence, Workshop Leader and for the last 5 years a Manager of The Art Room using art in a therapeutic setting with children and young people. She is now able to commit herself fully to her Art Practice and she continues to work freelance using art as therapy to facilitate joy and confidence.

My work is inspired by elements of landscape, seascape, colour and mark making. I am fascinated by our relationship with the natural world and its effects on our mental, physical and spiritual selves.

I get excited by dramatic landscapes and the power of natural elements like weather and light.

Living in Oxfordshire I am surrounded by expansive skies and space with the beautiful Cotswold landscape nearby and I love it. However, I grew up by the coast and I regularly need to be near the sea so I also go to favourite destinations, usually Devon and Cornwall, to draw and paint.

My favourite materials and equipment for this are a set of Unison Pastels, a couple of sketchbooks and a few sticks of graphite or charcoal. Using gestural marks I work intuitively, capturing the colour, movement and mood of what I am seeing, hearing and feeling.

When I come back to my studio I gather this collection of drawings and upon opening my sketchbooks always feel a thrill of excitement as the memories flood back.

The process of drawing on site fixes the experience in my body and memory and having them to work from feels powerful and honest. The new drawings in pastel, or paintings and collages I then create, take on abstract elements as I play with the composition, colours and marks. They retain their connection to the original drawings but sometimes take on new metaphorical meanings as I have time to reflect throughout the process, upon my relationship with the place they were created and the effect it has had on me.

I work small and large and I like to have several pieces on the go simultaneously.

When I am making art in this way, I believe that ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE and this is communicated through my work. As well as a celebratory act of mark making and passion for colour my artwork is an expression of my awe and joy about the natural world and the wonder of living as part of it.

Prizes

Alison has won a number of prizes including:

The Oxford Castle Heritage Project Prize 2006–Solo Exhibition at the O3 gallery.

The Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Prize 2011–Artist in Residence, The Art Room

The Unison non-members prize in Feb 2020 in the annual Pastel Society exhibition at The Mall Galleries with her work titled ‘Seascapes of the Soul – Unleashed’.

Exhibitions

1991:

  • Fine Art Degree Show –Exeter College of Art Fresh Art –Business Design Centre, Islington

2003:

  • Artweeks Open Studio –100a Cowley Road, Oxford

Feb – Mar 2004:

  • The Oxford Show – Modern Art Oxford

May 2004:

  • Space – Woodstock Road, Oxford

June –July 2004 Sept 2004:

  • The White Hart, Wytham

July 2005:

  • International Baptist Conference, Birmingham

Oct – Dec 2005:

  • Patrons Exhibition, Ark-T Centre, Oxford

Apr 2006-19:

  • Work shown annually at Queens College Chapel, OxfordUniversity as part of the annual Lent Concerts.

Oct 2006:

  • Solo Exhibition at the O3 Gallery, Oxford

July 2007:

  • Solo Exhibition at Ark T Centre, Oxford

March 2009 & 2010:

  • Stations of the Cross exhibition at The Jam Factory, Oxford 5th

2011:

  • Anniversary exhibition at O3 Gallery, Oxford

April – May 2012:

  • Solo Exhibition at Wolfson College, Oxford

Nov 2017 – Present:

February 2020:

  • The Annual Pastel Society Show at The Mall Galleries, London Unison non-members Award winner

May 2020:

  • Oxfordshire Artweeks Online Open Studios

June – Dec 2020:

  • Broadway Arts Festival Competition Online Exhibition selected to final 200 artists

June – Sept 2020:

  • The Mall Galleries Buy Art Online Exhibition of Prizewinners

Commissions

Jan 2013:

  • ‘Tree of Life’ for SGM Lifewords 125th Celebration ‘Epiphany’ acrylic on canvas.

2007:

  • Private oil painting commission.

2012:

  • Private Painting commission.

2020:

  • Private Pastel commission.

Blogs by Alison Berrett

Colour Chart Guidance

We believe the colours in our web based colour chart are a faithful representation of our pastel range. But with any colours portrayed on the internet, there’s a whole heap of variables which mean that what you see, may not be what we see. That said, there’s some things that can be done to mitigate some of the variance.

Mobile phone and tablet screens tend to be pretty good for colour, so they’re always worth using, when viewing our colour chart.

We hate to say it, but cheaper computer displays, including laptops, can be rather hit and miss, in both colour and contrast, so they might not reveal the depth of the colour, as well as the true tone.

If you’re really keen on getting your computer up to speed on colour representation, you can use a calibration device to reach your display's fullest potential.

With all that said, if you think we’re way off the mark with any of the colours then, by all means let us know, and we’ll give it another shot.