Listen "Alison Watt - Ways of Seeing"
Episode Synopsis
Alison Watt has worked as a biologist on seabird colonies, an ecotour guide, has published a novel, a work of non-fiction and a book of poetry. She teaches painting online and in her studio on Protection Island, near Nanaimo, British Columbia.Alison is interested in where science (especially biology) and art interface and her paintings are informed by landscape and botanical forms. As a self-taught artist who has been painting for over thirty years, Allison relates to both the dream of making the paintings we see in our minds, and the frustrations of mastering the tools, techniques, and mindset to achieving them. Alison is not interested in moral instruction but in illuminating new ways of seeing.During our conversation, Alison talks about creative destruction, informed intuition, and how freeing it is to paint without brushes. TakeawaysPaint as if neither your time nor your materials are valuable.“We grow small when we try to be great.” David HockneyOur job is to have an authentic relationship with what we’re making.Take some time to pause and look back at what you have created.Visual imagery can slide underneath language right to the heart.Create a lot of opportunity for unexpected events.Every layer makes it better.MentionedAlison WattAlison Watt on InstagramAlison Watt on YouTubeArtwork ArtplayAlison Watt on PinterestDazzle Patterns, by Alison WattTriangle Island, Anne Vallée Triangle Island Ecological ReserveDavid HockneyJoni Mitchell
More episodes of the podcast Authentic Obsessions
Risa Iwasaki Culbertson - Human Connection
20/05/2025
Best of: Molly Meng - Scraps of Humanity
29/04/2025
Maura Ambrose - Holding Both Truths
15/04/2025
Lisa Solomon - Color
01/04/2025
Michael McConnell - Falling Asleep
18/03/2025
Melissa Guido - Pushing A Boundary
18/02/2025
Sarah Pedlow - Honoring the Overlooked
21/01/2025
Krista V. Allenstein - French Culture
07/01/2025