First off the blocks is my friend, yoga buddy, fellow Nooker and incredibly amazing Alison Dickin.
Who are you and what do you do?
Hello, I'm Alison Dickin and I'm a visual artist specialising in botanical art.
Who or what inspires you?
My inspiration comes from the natural world especially the local flora of the my surroundings, the Blue Mountains National Park.
There are too many artists who inspire me to list, here are some:
the 19th Century painter natural history painter,
American artist John Audubon, his work has so much a sense of movement,
the traditional botanical artists including Ellis Rowan to present day Australian artist Celia Rosser, who is well known for her work entirely devoted to Banksias,(her work is amazing)
Leonie Norton,
Helen Fitzgerald to contemporary botanical artists Rosie Saunders and English painter/printmaker Angie Lewin.
Your signature work or favorite item?
It has to be one of my first paintings I completed ‘Telopea Specissiomosa’, Waratah, it’s still my best seller.
What do you most enjoy doing?
Finding that plant, flower, branch, bark, feather or bird which inspires to take up my sketch book and jot down ideas, then shutting myself off in my studio listening to Radio National, and hopefully some of these sketches will become ‘completed’ paintings one day.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Probably still here with hopefully many more finished paintings.
How did you start along this road?
I did a BA (Hons) in Textile Design in Nottingham UK specialising in knitwear. However looking back at my drawings and paintings from Art School in Shrewsbury and that time in Nottingham I spent a lot of time drawing and painting flowers and plants and here I am again 30 years later doing the same.
I spent a few years working as a knitwear designer in London. I then took a break and spent 2 years backpacking around the World. On returning to UK I took up graphic design, although still working freelance as a knitwear designer for magazines.
Getting married and beginning a family and emigrating to Australia in the late 90s took up all my time for the next few years!
I continued to sketch but it wasn’t until I saw a local botanical art course advertised locally, I gave it a go and I was hooked!
Thanks Alison.
You can find Alison's work as prints, cards and other gift items at -
The Nook Leura
Everglades Gift Shop at Leura
Studio 52 at Blackheath
In her etsy shop.
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