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A L I S O N   W H I T M O R E

e  alisonwhitmore@hotmail.com

 

m  07837 583368

 

w  www.alisonwhitmore.co.uk

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Footpath Through Barley Field

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Footpath to Kirklington

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Looking Back Towards Home

Biography

Alison Whitmore, originally from Mansfield, trained at West Notts College, Mansfield, graduating from Nottingham Trent University with BA (Hons) Fine Art in 1996; the Nottingham based painter is currently working with landscape. A member of Harrington Mill Studios since July 2007 and associate of Backlit Studios, Alison is Artist in Residence at Thoresby Park for a period of six months from August 2010 until the end of February 2011.  This residency culminates in an exhibition at Thoresby Gallery in Spring 2011 (dates to be confirmed).   Alison is also a trained FE teacher, an Arts Award advisor, working with ABC Arts in Mansfield and workshop facilitator in primary education settings.

Previous exhibitions include

 Backlit Studios Group Show, Backlit Studios, June 2010, curated by Tracey McMaster with Rachel  Eite , Jenny Hackett, Martin Lewis, Georgie Park, Tracey McMaster, Beth Shapeero,   Simon Raven to name but a few

 Derbyshire Open Arts Event, May 2010 Open Studios, Harrington Mill Studios, with Dee Shiels, Helen Stevenson, Justine Nettleton and Jess Calke

 We Are Here, May-June 2010, Lakeside Arts Centre, group exhibition with Karen Fraser, Alwyn Lambert, Justine Nettleton, Beth Shapeero,  Sheila Ravnkilde, Simon Withers et al, curated by Ruth Lewis-Jones’ Young Curators group

 Anamnesis: Solo Exhibition, November 2009, Harrington Mill Studios, Long Eaton

 Harrington Mill Open Studios 2009, October 2009, with Jackie Berridge, David Manley, Sarah R Key, Sheila Ravnkilde  and other studio members

 Harrington Mill Open Studios 2008

 The Allotment Show, January 2008, Harrington Mill Studio and Long Eaton Town Hall

 Harrington Mill Open Studios/Opening Exhibition 2007

Forthcoming Exhibitions

 Scale, Connect 2010, opens 10th September 2010, at Fishmarket Gallery, Northampton, group show with Liz Anelli, Wendy Brooks, Viv Dixon, Jenny Hackett, Martin Lewis, Nita Nathwani, Tracey McMaster, Peter Slack, Beth Shapeero and Anne E Watt, to be curated by Karl Hobbs

  Journey Into Landscape Solo Show, Spring 2011 (dates to be confirmed) at Thorseby Gallery, to be curated by Cynthia Harrison

 

Statement

 

Lugging the almost unmanageable paraphernalia of ‘plein air’ painting on a journey to nowhere, I discover new levels of pain with the aid of a tripod stool.  Taking the decision to pursue this experiment, testing my endurance, exposed to the elements seems ludicrous in the age of instantaneous digitisation.  What reason could there be for such foolhardy behaviour?  

 

The aim of this endless process is to explore and evoke, by interrogating traditional media, a pointedly real sense of place, of having been where I have been, of being intensely hot or painfully cold, wet, insecure, isolated, and uncomfortable. 

The activity of observation and recording produces a journal-like body of work, attempting to capture in stasis an instant, conveying the fugitive play of light and constantly changing colour.  Allowing the medium to take some control of the outcome, my work is sometimes contemplative and at other times urgent, this is dictated by the weather conditions.

Revisiting locations at different times of day, through changing weather conditions and rotating seasons lends depth to this investigation.