Illuminations - Introducing Alison

MY ACADEMIC background has been in archaeology and history and my working experience has included archaeological excavation and draughtsmanship, research, museum curatorship and local history writing.

I was for so long immersed in the business of broadcasting our great wealth of local history that it remains a great enthusiasm.

The idea of using my skills as an artist to communicate history in pictures as well as in words grew out of a desire to find a new and attractive way of 'spreading the word' and of reaching as wide an audience as possible.

Living in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds and surrounded locally and nationally by so many beautiful and cherished cities and cathedrals, villages, parish churches and historic sites, I have unlimited resources from which to select stories and legends to recount and interpret.

Inspired by the imagery in medieval art - the richness and vibrancy of design and colour and the mannerism and idiosyncracy that looks so naive and humorous to the modern eye - I have designed a style of my own that puts a medieval 'spin' on to my subjects. The resulting paintings are not intended to be slavish copies of their medieval prototypes. Instead, I intend them to be part medieval inspiration and part my own invention for the purpose of storytelling and illustration.

I hope that by celebrating our rich heritage in this way, I am both honouring the artists of centuries ago and also capturing something of their spirit and vision.