Alison will be joining our studio tour again in 2012. She has some delightful paintings inspired by butterflies as well as some gorgeous little clutch purses. I understand that small purses are ‘in’ this year, so Alison is right on trend.
My approach combines curiosity and a love of colour and texture, with concern for environmental issues. I am inspired by natural imagery, such as trees, flora, 
and most notably butterflies, as well as by my personal experiences and emotions. The positive and negative sides of human emotion interest me, and I aim to express these themes in my work through my choices of subject, colours, and combinations of heavy and delicate fabrics. I enjoy pieces that ‘feel’ right in my hands, whether it’s soft felt or fabric, or cool to the touch stone and glass beads, or has to do with the size, shape or weight of the piece. My work is also a way of trying to connect with other people, and to express whatever joy, sadness, and other emotions I am feeling at the time. 
The hope is that I can create an emotional response in the viewer, that they can both understand my intentions in the work, and also find their own meanings in it.
I love to explore using media that are new to me, for example textile techniques like hand and machine embroidery, but often return to favourites including acrylic paints, or making beaded jewellery. In my textile and jewellery pieces, I regularly use natural materials such as silk, linen, and stone beads, largely because of their tactile qualities, and work with appliqué and embroidery techniques which allow me to incorporate scraps and leftovers, to minimize the waste I produce.
Alison Syer was a Visual Arts major at Cawthra Park Secondary School, graduating in 2001. From there, she attended two years of university study in Environmental and Resource Management.
I am working on a series of acrylic paintings which are each based on the markings of a type of butterfly, taking the true to life colours, and altering the marks and patterns to compose the piece. My current textile work is also butterfly inspired, as I am working on a series of machine embroidery pieces, each a different butterfly, to be pinned and framed in specimen boxes much like real insect specimens are. This work expands on the themes of natural imagery, and of personal sadness and loss.
As interesting as this was, she missed artistic endeavours, and so in 2005, she took 2 sessions of Acrylics painting classes at Springbank Arts Centre, and also participated in her first group exhibition, with the White Oaks Art Group, held at Riverwood, the home of Visual Arts Mississauga.
She successfully completed the Art Fundamentals (Illustration stream) one year Ontario College Certificate program at Sheridan College in 2007, and graduated,with Honours, from the three year Crafts and Design program at Sheridan in the spring of 2010, having earned a Diploma of Applied Arts, with a studio concentration in textiles.
She now has work in several international private collections.
More information about Alison and her marvelous textile work can be found on her website www.alisonsyer.com
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