We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alison Corteen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Alison, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
I first realized I wanted to become a professional artist about 6 years ago. I have always been creative but moving to Redondo Beach, California inspired me to create my own website and put my art for sale on online galleries. I also started attending art fairs and art shows to show and sell my art. I have lived in several countries where language was a barrier to business. As English is my first language, the United States was much easier for me. It is also an excellent country to start small businesses.
Alison, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I have always loved creating and in particular, painting. Having won the top Art Student prize at high school, my art teacher was sure I would go on to art college but I ended up getting a degree in Chemistry! Many years on, It wasn’t until I moved to California in 2016 that I actually decided to take my painting more seriously. I started taking art classes at the South Bay Art Department and really began to develop my art style. I love using many different media but most of my paintings for sale are acrylic on canvas. I paint a combination of abstracts and landscapes. I enjoy playing with unusual colors and I aim to present every day sights with a new perspective. Lifeguard towers are a common subject to paint, but I change up all the colors in a style influenced by the French Fauvist painters. I also have a series of paintings of LA freeways where I make them look beautiful and striking with bright and unusual colors. I find these structures awe inspiring and slightly terrifying! I have even painted a mural of a freeway. My abstract paintings are an exploration of my internal emotions and feelings and I let everything flow out onto the canvas. Overall I produce artwork to bring joy and happiness to any home or business where I use an exuberance of color, texture and shapes.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
I personally do not think NFTs are good for my style of art. My art is for hanging on walls where collectors can appreciate the work that has gone into the painting. Sadly there is now a lot of people on Instagram who are constantly trying to scam artists with the cost of turning artwork into NFTs.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Some non-creatives are not particularly understanding about abstract art. I’ve had comments on how they could do the same in 5 minutes! I actually find painting abstracts harder than real life subjects. It’s so hard to know if you are going in the right direction and when you are finished!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AlisonCorteen.com
- Instagram: AlisonCorteen
- Facebook: Alison corteen