Alison Leigh Menke
"Light Strike" - 12” x 12” - Available in Plein Air Works Collection
Alison Leigh Menke is an expressive impressionist currently living on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. She loves painting directly from life and in particular creating works en Plein Air. Alison was born in Caracas, Venezuela, in 1987. She spent much of her youth in Alpharetta, GA and then Maryland. She graduated in 2010 from the University of Maryland with a degree in Art and Art History and studied abroad in Amsterdam and Greece. Constantly traveling, she has competed in nearly one hundred national and international plein air competitions and festivals over the last seven years. Commissioned work is permanently on display at the National Harbor in DC. She shows in several galleries, and is featured in Plein Air Magazine’s Dec – Jan 2020 issue and many other publications.
Alison’s approach gives importance to suggesting a true sense of light and space while showcasing the rich qualities of oil paint, palette knife, and brushwork. Painting thick and thinking ‘small abstractions’ she uses composition, texture, and color to move a viewer around her paintings. She has been exploring “intentional mark-making”. This is the understanding of the structural integrity of each stroke made on her panel - to make loose marks with great control.
Why paint?
“Firstly, I want to celebrate the energy of natural light by striving to suggest it in my own work and ideas. Secondly, to experience that ‘playful’ feeling that comes with handling my medium.”
Oil on Aluminum
Alison’s latest works are on brushed anodized aluminum. It’s a very ridged surface made of aluminum that has gone through full oxidation and sandwiched with a polyethylene core and backed with foam. The finishes are copper and stainless steel colors. This substrate is strong and enduring, and paint flows with ease as it’s a joy to work on. Having painted in Puerto Rico for some time, Alison has seen the destructive effects that salty and humid environments have on organic material and she wants to protect her work.
Just married, Alison has embarked on an exciting new adventure of island living full of colorful inspiration! She hopes to create artist retreats in Humacao, PR, and share this paradise with artists and art lovers.
