Alister Colley

Alister was born into a large family in the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate and spent much of his childhood creating elaborate stories that he would share with his twin brother. All is brothers and sisters were creative and it was within this environment that his passion flourished.

As a child he was always drawing and creating wonderful characters in imaginary worlds and his desire to tell stories has been a theme throughout his painting ever since.

Alister studied a degree course in Art and Design and graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University, which further encouraged diversity and exploration where Alister pursued his first passion, film. It was whilst creating ‘Storyboards’ (a visual representation of a film’s narrative) that Alister rediscovered his passion for illustration.
In October 2005 Alister launched his own freelance business and enjoyed immediate success, receiving commissions for Novel Covers, Children’s Books, C.D Covers and Corporate Branding.

In February 2007, Alister enjoyed further success when he approached some local galleries with work based on his Children’s book illustrations. His artwork was selling out in its first day of being exhibited and featuring in both local and National Editorials.
There is more to these paintings than just colourful and humorous observations, each picture created tells a story. In each collection of ten, be it Yorkshire Dales, Coastal or French Rural; characters return and Villages are depicted throughout the different seasons. Villagers reappear in different paintings and in changing scenarios allowing the stories to flow from one painting to another.