Alison studied at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art (1981 to 1985) and as one of “The Glasgow Girls” was part of the resurgence in figurative painting that emerged at that time. In 1993 Alison won The Commonwealth Scholarship to paint in India for two years (1993 to 1995) and upon her return to the United Kingdom took up a part-time lectureship in Painting and Printmaking at Glasgow School of Art (1995 to 2002) becoming one of the youngest lecturers to teach there. Selected exhibitions include The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Royal Academy, London; Leicester City Art Gallery; Stirling Museum; The Boundary Gallery, London; The Compass Gallery, Glasgow; The Collins Gallery, Glasgow The City Arts Centre, Edinburgh; The Graphic Museum of Tokyo, Japan; The India Today Gallery New Delhi, India and The National Museum of Kenya, Nairobi. Alison is a recipient of numerous Scholarships, awards and prizes including The Commonwealth Scholarship, The Norwegian Government Scholarship, The Cheltenham Drawing Prize, Ruth Davidson Memorial Award and The Prince’s Drawing School Bursary Award. Alison is included in the following publications, The Who’s Who in Art and Who’s Who of Women in the World. Aside from being the Founder and a director of The Essential School Of Painting, Alison works part-time as a tutor and the Co-ordinator for Drawing and Painting at the City-Lit Institute in London.