Allison is a signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, having been juried into several international exhibitions in the United States. In 2014 she was awarded Master Pencil Artist Status by the Pencil Art Societyand has won numerous awards over the years. She works primarily in coloured pencil and incorporates it into mixed media works as well. Her meticulously detailed “paintings” are sensitive renderings of sunlit still lifes, florals and everyday objects with patterns and colours that appeal to and challenge the artist.
Allison was a member of the Kanata Civic Art Gallery and a founding member of the Kanata Artists Studio Tour. Her work has been published in The Best of Coloured Pencil Volumes 3 and 5, as well as The Artist’s Magazine and American Artist Drawing magazine. She has been a featured artist on CJOH’s Regional Contact and CBC’s Living in Ottawa. In 2004, Allison was a nominee for the YM-YWCA Women of Distinction Awards in the category of Learning for Life. She published her first children’s book, Timmy Meets the Dinosaurs, in 2008 and copies are in countries around the world and claimed by many parents to be their child’s “favourite book”. Her work has been published in Best of Worldwide Artists/Charcoal, Pastel & Pencil (2010), CPSA’s Signature Showcase (2012), Colored Pencil Magazine’s honorable mention 2013 Calender, and as featured cover artist in Ann Kullberg’s Colored Pencil Magazine (March 2014) . Her portrait “Daddy” won second prize in the international 2013 Figureworks show and “To Make a Long Story Short” took top prize in 2015 Figureworks (www.figureworks.org.). Her portrait “In Sweet Repose” was awarded 2nd prize in the Colored Pencil Society of America’s Explorethis! show in 2019. (www.cpsa.org )
Since the early nineties, Allison’s love of her chosen medium has inspired her to teach adults through her one-day workshops. She motivates her students of all ages to find the artist within and to embrace creativity while having fun. She loves the portability and versatility of the pencil and frequently speaks to the public and to art groups promoting coloured pencil as a fine art medium.
Her work has been displayed at the Ottawa Art Exchange, the Framing Experience (Nepean), Art at the Powerhouse (Cleveland, Ohio), the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts (Chicago, Illinois), the Ellipse Gallery(Washington, DC), the Robert Kidd Gallery (Birmingham, Michigan), the National Autonomous University of Mexico School of Extension (Gatineau campus), The Shenkman Centre for the Arts, Ottawa, ON, St Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, (Ottawa, ON) and the Kanata Civic Art Gallery.
Allison’s art is collected around the world and can be seen in west Ottawa her home by appointment.