The youngest of four children, Alison was born in Dublin in the 1950s. She spent her early years living with her family on the southwest coast of England, returning to Dublin in 1970 where, by the time she was 18, Alison had blossomed into a confident, popular girl od her time, living communally with close friends, on the Irish coast.

Three years later, Alson was continuing her communal lifestyle in London’s Ladbroke Grove, meeting people from all over the world, and eventually joining a house co-operative of young, single people in Hackney.

Alison discovered her creativity whilst still in her teens. She experimented with various art forms before falling in love with painting. Ashe is entirely self-taught but credits the influence of many artistic friends and acquaintances.  Painting was a serious hobby from the age of 20. Many of her early artworks are in the private collections of friends and family.

Beyond the vibrant, acrylic colours that are a recognisable feature of her work, there is a reflection of a strong creative form of expression coupled with a quirkiness born of an early hippy-nomad lifestyle, with an accumulation of life enhancing experiences.  Therefore, one can safely anticipate discovering more on some canvas than first meets they eye.  Indeed, AlisonAnn has said that at times, and despite her original concept, characters will ‘present’ themselves on her canvases, often dictating the finished work.

Wishing to make her art more accessible, she sought professional advice as to the best way forward, “Put them o merchandise” was the swift reply. Much easier said than done! After many fruitless searches, she came up with the idea in 2020 of learning how to make the wooden boxes and coasters you can find within these pages, and by resurrecting her decoupage skills she has discovered what is proving to be a very effective and popular solution to “putting them on merchandise”.