Outsider Art Fair: Alison Friend & Ravi Zupa

Alison Friend graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 1996 with a degree in Fine Art specialising in Printmaking. This was also the same year she started an apprenticeship with Nottingham City Council becoming the first female stone mason to be employed by the city and studied for three years in part at Weymouth College. Between the years 2001-2007 Friend lived in the US and it was here she realized her ambition to become a children's book illustrator and her first contract with Candlewick Press was signed in 2007 when she had just arrived back in the UK. Five years later, Friend signed with her agent which was a significant turning point in her career and several more picture books were illustrated including contracts with Harper Colins US, Nosey Crow, Hodder Children's UK, Templar, Usbourne, Little Tiger Press and most recently Alfred Knopf US. However, the combination of the pandemic slowing down publishing and extra time to explore traditional painting methods saw many hours in front of an easel and painting became a fundamental and primary part of Friend's practice. Her paintings are sold to collectors all over the world and she has exhibited both nationally and internationally including London, Manchester, Walsall, Scotland, and Los Angeles as well as several on-line exhibitions with international galleries.