ABOUT ALISON
"Vibrant tones shine through Mitchell's graphic style. [...] Inspired by the rich tradition of rug hooking in Nova Scotia, thrift store vases, and a flourishing South Shore garden, Mitchell hand dyes Atlantic Canadian yarn from Canada's oldest woolen mill."
- Discover Halifax, July 2024
Alison Mitchell is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Her paintings, fiber art, and collages feature simplified, stylized subjects in vibrant but carefully limited colour palettes.
Many of Alison’s most recent pieces are “yarn paintings” that she creates using a wooden rug hooking tool called a punch needle and yarn from Briggs and Little in New Brunswick. Each one represents a unique blend of a centuries-old Atlantic Canadian craft with Alison's modern aesthetic.
Originally from Ottawa, Alison now lives with her young family in the colourful seaside town of Lunenburg. Before getting serious about making art around 2021, she spent 17 as a legal advisor, diplomat, and adjunct law professor. Specialized in international humanitarian law and international human rights law, she worked at Canada's foreign ministry in Ottawa, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, at NATO in Brussels, and at the UN in New York. She continues to teach international law at Queen's University.
Original artwork by Alison is available at the Teichert Gallery in Halifax and the Lunenburg Art Gallery. Alison also teaches punch needle rug hooking at the Lunenburg School of the Arts and the Chester Art Centre.
I recently found a delicate cross-stitched sampler that I spent weeks making in the summer after kindergarten. It was a lovely reminder of that my impulse to create art goes way back. (Having a fiber artist and crafting ninja for a mother probably helped too.) My maker spirit warmed the bench though for almost two decades as I focused on my legal and diplomatic career. Then, four years ago, I was fortunate enough to have an old-school nervous breakdown. I reassessed everything and moved 1500km east with my partner and our (then) 3-year-old to start a new, gentler chapter in a small house by the sea.
My worldview had darkened over the course of my last career. My art practice has lightened it back up considerably. Nowadays when I see something that lifts my spirits, I have an excuse to spend more time with it as I try to make something that invites people to see it the way it looked and felt to me. Ephemerality is no match for my punch needle.
My work today is very much centered around my desire to celebrate what makes life in Nova Scotia feel so life-affirming, from the flowers blooming in my garden and on the roadsides to the memorable people I'm meeting along the way. I've also developed a bit of an obsession with Atlantic Canada’s rich rug hooking tradition and I'm enjoying exploring how I can honour it in my own way. Finally, getting the colour palettes of my pieces just right is key, so I spend a lot of time mixing paint in my studio and dyeing yarn in my little kitchen.
I hope that the people, plants and places that have increased my dopamine levels give you a little hit as well.
- Alison Mitchell, June 2024
