Hello, I’m Alison. Welcome to Drawn and Archived and my card collection.

All of the Drawn and Archived cards are designed by me and come from original artwork. Many of them started life in one of my sketchbooks and others are from larger works made on paper using gouache, oil crayons and areas of collage. I like the energy and originality that comes from hand drawn work.

The idea of Drawn and Archived came when I was clearing out my parent’s house with my sister. It was crammed with 80 years of accumulated objects, family heirlooms, everyday bits and bobs and boxes of ephemera. We kept lots, but it would have been impossible to keep everything, so the idea of drawing and archiving came into being and it has grown from there.

I draw in my sketchbook every day and I like to fill at least one sketchbook every month. I always have it close to hand, along with my trusty supply of coloured pencils, ready to draw anything that might catch my eye. It has become a personal archive of my life and the world as I see it.

I get inspiration from what I see around me and I am always looking for something new and different to draw, or at least a different arrangement of some of the old favourites. I have always loved objects from the everyday mundane on the kitchen table, to something altogether more fabulous in a museum or gallery.

I am fascinated by what objects and buildings reflect of people. What we choose to buy, what we will collect and display and what we will discard. How tastes differ, evolve and change. I love the idea of objects having their own lives; of them observing us. Perhaps I need to spend more time with Speculative Realism, but it’s complicated and I prefer drawing!