A fifth-generation local, Alison Percy grew up on a farm just outside Albury. But it’s not just her family history which makes the region feel like home, it’s clear she feels aligned with the values of the local community to this day.
After a long creative career including graphic and interior design, Alison is now a full-time artist — “I love to draw with paint”. Her works are about abstracting the landscape, referencing traditional Japanese calligraphy, and exploring the use of vibrant and muted tones as part of her continuous study of colour.
As an artist, she finds inspiration all around the Albury Wodonga landscapes including the Murray River itself, and nearby high country.
Alison’s process starts with inspiration captured on location through her visual diary and colour notes or photographs. When it comes time to create, she doesn’t lock herself away in the studio. “I love to paint out in the open air with what's in front of me”.
With a deep love of colour, you might expect hundreds of tubes in varying hues taking over her workspace, but in fact it’s the opposite — she mixes her own from a limited colour palette — “I'll use palette knives to take [paint] from the large containers and then mix them together and push the colour…I love to push the colours, build them.”
Once her favourite brush is loaded with the right colour, she begins.
A deep connection to The Murray through her work has built Alison’s belief that artists help shape the character of a region. Through art, they get a chance to show their view of the world and how they capture inspiration.
In The Murray and surrounding regions, she’s proud to be one of many local artists and part of a community that’s home to many spaces for appreciation of art. In fact, she lives just a short walk from several in the centre of Albury. “There's a lot of art to be viewed in this region. Two blocks that way, Murray Art Museum Albury [is a] very contemporary gallery, a lot of installations. They showcase a lot of artists work and their own collection…across the Murray River is Creators Artspace, a lot of printmakers there, [and] Hyphen, Wodonga's new cultural hub [where] I've recently had a solo exhibition in their Hallway Gallery, fantastic community gallery spaces.”
She talks fondly of the Gateway Gallery where she had her first ever solo exhibition in 2015. “A fabulous community gallery, without that gallery, I don't think I'd be in the position I am now as a full-time artist”, and further afield the Beechworth Contemporary Art Space. “Nina's an artist herself, and gallerist, and she's sourced artists to become part of her stable of artists from the local region…I feel quite proud to be part of that”.
While local galleries are among her favourite places, most of all, she loves being out on the water which is also a short walk away.
Alison is also a fan of the local food scene, highlighting a whole list of top picks like Canvas Eatery, The River Deck Café, Clancy's [Food Store], The Proprietor, Ebden & Olive and Frankies. Food, and coffee of course, is intricately linked with a sense of community.
It's this element of community she often comes back to in our conversation, and it allows people to feel they’re part of something bigger while also giving a sense of ownership. “I feel very proud to live in this region, actually, I can’t imagine living anywhere else…it's just a wonderful community. Even if you haven't lived here [or] you're new to the area, you will fit in fairly quickly because we are very inclusive."
This is the fifth blog in our Mates of The Murray series, and we’ll be introducing you to our last mate next week. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to discover more of The Murray, or subscribe to our emails and get the latest straight to your inbox.
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