Unison Colour welcomes Alison Berrett to the Associate Artist family
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.
āMy 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.ā
Prizes
Alison has won a number of prizes including:
The Oxford Castle Heritage Project Prize 2006āSolo Exhibition at the O3 gallery.
The Alexandra Reinhardt Memorial Prize 2011āArtist 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 āSeascapes of the Soul ā Unleashedā.
Exhibitions
1991:
Fine Art Degree Show āExeter College of Art Fresh Art āBusiness Design Centre, Islington
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2003:
Artweeks Open Studio ā100a Cowley Road, Oxford
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Feb – Mar 2004:
The Oxford Show ā Modern Art Oxford
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May 2004:
Space – Woodstock Road, Oxford
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June āJuly 2004 Sept 2004:
The White Hart, Wytham
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July 2005:
International Baptist Conference, Birmingham
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Oct ā Dec 2005:
Patrons Exhibition, Ark-T Centre, Oxford
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Apr 2006-19:
Work shown annually at Queens College Chapel, OxfordUniversity as part of the annual Lent Concerts.
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Oct 2006:
Solo Exhibition at the O3 Gallery, Oxford
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July 2007:
Solo Exhibition at Ark T Centre, Oxford
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March 2009 & 2010:
Stations of the Cross exhibition at The Jam Factory, Oxford 5th
In May we held a recruitment exercise for new Associate Artists and we were overwhelmed with the number of applications. So much so we will have 2 groups of new artists. Our 2nd group will be announced in August 2020.