Exquisite Arts Magazine Vol 3 - Nov/ Dec 2016 | Page 40

Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Alison fell in love with creating
art at a very young age. While struggling to overcome a learning disability,
Alison found comfort and confidence in expressing herself through visual
art. Alison was self-taught in her early years and was accepted into a
Magnet Visual Art High School where she was able to learn a more
extensive aspect of visual arts including History, Photography, Figure
Drawing, Welding, Pottery and Painting. She then went on to continue her
education with the Fashion Program at Florida State University and studied
abroad in London and Paris. Alison then transferred and received her AA
to Parson’s School of Design at the New School University in New York City
where she studied Fashion Illustration, Fashion Design, Patternmaking,
Draping and Sewing.
Throughout her career at Parsons in New York, Alison interned with Donna
Karen Menswear, Emme and Rebecca Taylor and later went on to work as
a designer for Steve Madden in Miami, Florida. Alison’s art has grown over
the years and continues to evolve. Her visual art and fashion background
has helped in her ability to produce abstract works consisting of photo
transfers and acrylic paints and mediums. Her collections of portraits,
visual images and landscapes are inspired by her love for art, travel,
fashion, music, history and pop culture. Her appreciation for color is
evident in her design while she focuses mostly on color combinations to
give her piece depth and interest.

Your artwork is a beautiful combination of fashion
and creativity. You mentioned that you began your
journey as an artist at a young age. What or who
inspired you?
My mom went to art school at F.I.T in the 60’s and
would show me her work and let me use her supplies
when I was younger. I was very much inspired by her
and her technique. She also had an amazing style for
fashion, so at a very young age, I put two and two
together, art and fashion and this was how I started
my art journey. I was also extremely influenced by
the arts and culture of New York City, where I was
fortunate enough to visit yearly since both set’s of my
grandparents lived in New York. Everything about
Manhattan was fascinating to me. The people, the
culture, the fashion, the shows, the food, the
buildings, the lights, the action, the stores…
EVERYTHING still inspires me about that amazing
city. I knew at a very young age that somehow and
some way, I would use that inspiration of color and
culture and create that in my art.

Page 39

How has art helped you in dealing with your
learning disability?
Art helped me deal with my learning disability which
was extremely difficult to deal with when I was so
young. My disability was in language and math and
since the schools didn't exactly know how to handle
these disabilities in children, I was often teased and
felt embarrassed, daily. I had absolutely no
confidence. I would lock myself in my room for hours
and just draw, paint and draw some more. After some
practice and a lot of encouragement from my parents
and art teacher, my confidence started to soar. 20 plus
years later my confidence is still a work in progress
but I finally believe in me and my art and I couldn't
have gotten through it without some paper, a paint
brush and some paints and of course some much
needed encouragement.
Many believe that artists have a social responsibility
or that art should convey a deep rooted message.
What are your thoughts, what does art mean to you?