My name is Alison Fowler, and I grew up on banks of the Rideau River near Ottawa.

These are the three big things I would like you to know about me:

Number 1.  I have had a connection with nature for as long as I can remember.

Number 2.  My art focuses on florals and landscapes. 

Number 3.  My artwork is rich in colour and texture.

Yes, I have always had a yearning to be outdoors. At the age of  thirteen, I forced my father to rotoltill  part of our own lawn into a vegetable garden, where I spent hours planting and weeding. Not your average teenager. I also remember lazy summer days, kayaking down the river, alone, looking for water lilies and catching frogs.  I’m not sure where it began really, because it’s always been a part of me, and it lives in the essence of my artwork.

Painting is a very multi-sensory experience for me. I like to play with light and shadow, dark and bright. I absolutely love to watch people reach out and touch my paintings. When they do, I feel that I have somehow succeeded.   I am also drawn to an expansive and grand sense of nature, as well as a remarkably tender and fragile nature.

My palette knife is my friend, and when I pair chunky colour with soft brushwork I am able to create the design elements which ultimately form the backbone of my work. My art is simple but not simplistic. I use straightforward compositions, lots of layering, and above all else, vibrant colours. Colour is key. (See? That’s one of the important things.)

Poppies are an ongoing obsession; wild, showy, simple, and uniquely beautiful. I am drawn to groupings of odd numbers and asymmetrical arrangements. Each poppy piece is unique; thick petals juxtaposed against the brushed look of a soft cloudy background.

The trees.  Ahh, yes.  The trees are my personal friends. They’re individuals who I’ve met on my long walks along the river, in the Gatineau or when ever my camera happens to be with me.  I’ll be happy to introduce you.

Birdwatching is a huge part of my life. Although a woodpeckers or chickadees might not always make an appearance in my art, I like to think they may have settled for a moment within the tall embrace of the birches, or alighted briefly on a bright-faced poppy.  It happens in the blink of an eye.  So much of life is so fleeting.

Someone once told me tell me they bought one my paintings because poppies don’t last very long once they reach full bloom. And now, she said, I get them all year long. I love the idea of the everlasting poppy, don’t you? Because that’s what I’m all about.