#sparkchamber 100719 — Alison Lowe

A perfect fall day intertwines brilliantly with today’s #sparkchamber guest, visual artist Alison Lowe. Alison grew up in Livingston, NJ, and attended the George Washington University where — despite having never taken any art classes previously — she majored in Fine Art and Art History. After graduation, she moved to Los Angeles, painting steadily around various work schedules. “Most of my jobs were related to my love and knack for color. I worked for a silkscreen design company, and various photographers who hired me to do hand-colored photographs.” During those years, she was engrossed in plein-air painting and American Impressionism — influences clear to see in her use of bold shapes, strong colors and stark light/dark relationships — as well as by Wolf Kahn, Richard Diebenkorn, and Georgia O'Keefe.

Once she had children, she stopped working outside of the home, and painted while raising her two boys. “They have had a huge influence on my work, not only as subject matter, but as a reminder of the importance of play while working.” Related, another strong inspiration in her work is nature memories, and how they connect to our human experience — the way that nature reflects back to us the rhythms of life and reminds us all to tap into our own inherent rhythms.

Recently, Alison has been sculpting in clay, and has been painting a new series of TinyStills — simple yet stunning floral set-ups. “I work in a variety of mediums and subject matter because it forces me to stay present and be spontaneous.”

Her body of work is striking and surprisingly moving. See more of it at her website, and on Instagram.

1.] Where do ideas come from?

For me it’s a combination of natural beauty, curiosity, memories, keen observation and a bit of magic.

2.] What is the itch you are scratching?

I think there’s a part of me that wants to stay a child and art allows me to tap into that. It’s the discovery of what happens when you mix two colors together, and just play, experiment and get messy. It's an internal fulfillment that makes me giddy.

3.] Early bird or night owl? Tortoise or hare?

I work from home, so I mostly paint when everyone is out of the house. I’ve learned to be very adaptable to my family's schedule. When my kids were younger I used to give myself two hours and give myself limitations whether it’s time, colors, size of piece ... it allowed me to be freer, yet more intentional and the work was more successful than when I have all day to paint and 20 colors on my palette. I knew my time was very precious and I just had to get to work so these limitations allowed me to jump in.

If I’m not painting, then I’m doing yoga. The combination of breath, intense focus, and physically challenging postures change my entire mental state so I am clear to go into my creative work. I mostly work from late morning until the kids come home from school. And when I’ m flowing, I get very ritualistic. I start at the same time, wear the same clothes over and over, and eat the same foods ... again, limitations. I don’t want anything to distract from the flow.

4.] How do you know when you are done?

I stop when I think I’m about 75% finished. I have overworked SO many paintings. But now, most of the time I am right, and if I’ m not ... then by putting the piece away for a few days or weeks, I can approach it with fresh eyes. I always say a painting can take 3 months and five minutes.