Alison lives in Scotland. She was taught to make bobbin lace whilst at school. Her parents managed to persuade the Head of Lancashire Education Department that an eleven-year-old could attend an adult weekend course at Gawthorpe Hall with Margaret Hamer – not something that would happen now! She has enjoyed designing and making lace regularly since.

 

Alison joined the Westhope Group in 2012 at the same time as Robina Melville and has exhibited in the ‘Shape Shifting’, ‘Let the River Flow’ and ‘Elemental’ exhibitions.

 

During the last few years, she has been concentrating on developing her drawing and painting skills, and using these to improve her lace designs. She is currently experimenting with traditional techniques on a larger scale and using knitting and embroidery threads to create contemporary lace items.

 

Alison's work is mainly inspired by nature and varies in both scale and materials used. Most of the designs start as sketches and are further developed as either more detailed drawings or more experimentally using cut paper and tape to create 3-D models. Since 2007, Alison has been attending yearly Prague Lace Design Courses to study lace methods with the Czech lace tutors, Alina Jašková and Anna Halíková. Much of her lace now is influenced by this experience.