Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Allison Meriwether. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Allison, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I’ve never really stopped learning about art making. I’m always learning something new or applying a new technique to my practice. I search for opportunities to learn whether it’s in the form of a workshop or class, or listening to a podcast or reading a book about an artist or art practice. If there were ever a time that I could have sped up my learning, it would have been early on in childhood by surrounding myself with other artistically inclined kids and taking art classes in childhood. I didn’t have the tools to be where I needed to be in my early adult life because of not having better skills as a younger child. I had a great deal of catching up to do.
Skills that I have personally found most essential to my work are drawing and use of color whether that be color pencils or paint because they both build similarly in my practice.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a realist portrait and figurative painter. I have always been interested in artistic practice and replicating things as closely as possible to the real thing. I create works about the feeling of being limited and censored; what it’s like to be controlled by environment. What I’m interested in are the gaps that keep women from achieving fulfillment in our successes. I address most everything in my work from the perspective of a woman, so you will see most of my pieces are centered on women. In my latest work, I like to explore the notion of taking up space as an individual while simultaneously resisting being absorbed by surrounding space and influences.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

I struggle to convey verbally what I have on my mind much of the time, which is a large portion of why I create. It’s easier for me to compile things visually in my mind and meditate on their meaning at the inception of a piece than it is to verbalize. When someone connects to my work and interprets parts of it into their own experience, I feel like I’ve done something successful and connected with others over an experience I wrestle to materialize otherwise.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have a goal to create a community environment for other creatives in the future when I’m able to secure funding and support for a physical space. I envision offering a multi-use space for artists’ studios, teaching space to be the community in and gallery space to showcase the work we believe and pour into. This space would connect the arts community in my area to somewhere central instead of having us all spread out from one another and disconnected. I believe the arts have the ability to connect the audience with artists and promote conversation around key topics.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.allisonmeriwetherart.com
• Instagram: @a.merarts

Image Credits
Artist photo- Michelle Carr