Alyson Howard was born in Devon and spent her childhood in the idyllic surroundings of the South Devon coast. From a very early age Alyson spent hours meticulously drawing complex pictures of animals and she also had a constant flow of craft projects on the go. She loved nature and immersed herself in it 100%.  Her love for art played a major part in her schooling and undoubtedly her best subject. At school she always dreamed of being a successful artist, travel the world and lead a varied, colorful life.

In 1989 she left school and got a placement at Plymouth College of Art & Design, where she successfully gained a diploma in general art and design. She left her course rather disillusioned about a career in art and wasn’t sure where her place was in the grand scheme of things.

A year after leaving college she embarked on an emotional and inspirational journey across India and Nepal. Whilst on this incredible journey she wanted to rekindle her relationship with art and made a promise to herself the day she landed in Deli that she would write a journal and sketch up her ideas and experience’s every single day.  Alyson was extremely seduced by the colours and textures of these cultures, and it has continued to have a major impact on her art to this day.

After coming back from her travels Alyson painted on a very personal level for many years, taking on commissions and painting backdrops for local nightclubs. However, in 1997 she was commissioned by a local interior designer to produce 45 paintings to hang in a four star hotel in Birmingham city Centre This lead onto producing a set of 6 large paintings for a health spa in Reading.

In 1998 Alyson went back into higher education at Plymouth University. She studied Media Lab Arts which was a contemporary mix of media, arts and computer science. Whilst on this degree she specialised in film making and graphic design.

After successfully graduating, she worked for some small media firms in Plymouth, which lead her on to getting a job as a graphic designer for the South West Media group. Her main duties were conceptulising and producing advertising campaigns for small to medium businesses around the West Country;  helping to raise and develop many company profiles .

Alyson has gone on to find her ideal career, she currently works for Jamieson Smith Associates a leading Interior Design company based in Newton Abbot, working as their graphic designer, she creates graphics within the retail and leisure sector.

In 2010 Alyson picked up her paintbrush after a 15 year break, and returned to her first love – painting. She’s now found the perfect balance in her life and has the space and time to follow her passion.

From a small child, Alyson has always been a day dreamer; she draws her inspirations from her vivid imagination juxtaposed with the natural world that surrounds us. Her art is experimental, using an interesting palette of colour’s and textures, she also utilizes a lot of metallic paints. Her paintings transform as the light changes hypnotising and engaging the viewer.

Alyson has a contemporary approach to her art, using a variety of mixed media’s. She combines incompatible mediums together, controlling them as they disperse; using abrasives to reveal the undertones of the work beneath. Her art is an organic process; she likes her paintings to emanate a sense of freedom and happiness.

“My art is my therapy, it brings me happiness and serenity”

Alyson’s art has come along way.  She held her first small exhibition in a cafe in Totnes in the latter part of 2011. She was invited to be a guest artist in gallery 5, Salcombe www.gallery5.org which is currently running, and ends on the 30th April 2012.   Her exhibition is called “botanicals”; she has selected a series of paintings of flowers, she finds them beautiful and hypnotic; most of all they make her smile which she hope translates to the viewer.

Her aspirations for the future are to build a professional career with her artwork, experience a diverse range of cultures to inspire future paintings. She would also like for her art to translate to fabrics to build a home ware collection.

My paintings range from 20cm x 20 cm to 100cm x 80 cm

[ but commission to any size, and starting to work larger canvasses ]

The prices start at £55  currently going up to £1000

All my work is a mixture acyrlics, and metallic spray paints they change dramatically in the light.