Alison Johnston
Alison is a Scottish seascape painter based on the Moray Coast. A graduate of Edinburgh College of Art, she studied under esteemed artists Elizabeth Blackadder, Sir Robin Philipson, and John Houston. After graduating, Alison's career expanded into illustration and animation, including the Oscar-nominated “Fireman Sam” and the acclaimed Aardman Animations.
She paints the natural world as she experiences it, the atmosphere and shifting light, capturing both what she sees and how it feels. Drawing on memory and sketches, and working in pigments, oil, and wax, she explores how light transforms the landscape, shaping her paintings to reflect the effects she experiences.
Alison’s paintings have been exhibited across the UK, and her prestigious commissions include clients such as the Royal Bank of Scotland and National Trust Scotland.
Alison Johnston graduated BA (Hons) from Edinburgh College of Art in 1983. Her work explores the way the natural world is experienced, capturing shifting light, movement, and mood through attentive observation and considered compostion. Johnston has received several awards, including the Creative Scotland Award, The Eaton Fund, The Helen A Rose Award, and the Andrew Grant Bequest
Exhibitions and Shows
2026 Kirkcudbright Galleries
2025 Logie Long Room Gallery
2025 Logie Square Room Gallery
2025 VAA Longlisted Artist of the Year Award
2025 Borders Art Fair
2024 RSA Edinburgh
2024 'Moray Artists' Long Room Gallery, Logie Steading
2023 'Moray Artists' Long Room Gallery, Logie Steading
2023 VAA Shortlisted Artist of the Year Award
2023 North East East Open Studios
2o23 Nairn Community Arts Exhibition
2022 Royal Scottish Academy, open exhibition
2022 Haven, Moray Art Centre, Moray
2022 Holly Bush Emerging Painter Prize, final selection
2022 Non Linear, Burials Yard, Bath
2021 Royal Scottish Academy, Open Exhibition
2021 North East Open Studio, Collaboration with Iona Hall, Silversmith
2021 VAA International Exhibition
2021 Aire Place Studios, exhibition
2021 Curatorspace online exhibition and catalogue
2021 Flux Summer Exhibition and Magazine
2021 Moray Art Centre, Postcard Exhibition
2021 Grantown Museum, mixed exhibition
2020 FLOW online exhibition
2020 Gracefield Art Centre
2020 Quarantzine online art exhibition
2020 Edinburgh printmakers
2010 Artist in Residence, National Trust Scotland, Fyvie Castle, Aberdeenshire
2007 Runner up BP Portrait Award, London
Press
The Flux Review, Q&A, London (Online), 2020
Quarantzine , Exhibitions 2-4, Gaada. Shetland (Online), 2020