Alison Boyack

Alison was born in Montreal in 1969. She grew up in Ontario, living in Niagara Falls, Pembroke and North Bay, before moving to Toronto to attend the Ontario College of Art and Design. After spending 15 years in the city, she moved to Collingwood in 2005.

Artistic expression has always been a significant part of Alison’s life. From earliest memories, she has been compelled to use imagery to recreate moments that have fascinated her. From flora and fauna, to man made objects and structures, the diversity of colours, textures, shapes and patterns found in these forms have always been a source of wonder to study and translate through an artistic medium. Every scene she paints speaks to her on a very personal level, evoking an emotional response as a reaction to its character or presence.

In her final year at the Ontario College of Art and Design, Alison began using oils as her primary medium. Since graduating in 1993, she has focused on developing a technique to express the intricacies of light, colour and pattern to recreate a realm which captures the essence of the subject. Her interest in painting landscape was initiated when she started traveling in 1995, and she began exhibiting work shortly after, in 1997.

Vacations have generally been camping excursions, discovering the earth’s many faces and then interpreting them on canvas back in the studio. Since moving to Collingwood, endless subject matter presents itself. A new found interest in working en plein air, she is now enjoying the process of capturing the simplicity of local scenes and plans to keep it as a regular part of her practice. This exploration is a perpetual journey – the infinite intricacies of pattern and subtleties of colour; the ever changing effects of light on and through different surfaces; the diverse array of textures and the multitude of shapes created by nature and man. These elements make her stop, observe and connect to them. Translating these experiences onto canvas is what inspires her to paint and the revelations are endless.