I'm a painter drawing reverence for light, space and emotion in nature and architecture to create sweeping abstract pieces. Through an awareness of my movement and the movement of my surroundings, I cultivate an experience for viewers – a reflection of creative motion typically witnessed only in that which is unaltered by the human hand.

I take the beauty that I see and deliver it to the viewer. No one could create the painting I make, nor could I paint someone else's idea. I love this about life. So I love giving people a window into what I see.

Before I begin, I spend time outside in nature, and with picture books and in museums. The architecture, history, stories and natural images bubble up together and create new ideas. Growing up, I spent hours in museums and pouring over art books. 

Recently my process has included an awareness of my own movements and laying those in marks across a piece. This has pushed me to make paintings that are larger than I am. I interpret the movement of light and patterns in nature, images unaltered by the human hand. My work contains elements of the unfinished and abstract.

Each painting has a story, a hidden message. This is left to the viewer to discern, it's a personal inspiration, unique to each thought.

About 

Alison draws upon her reverence for light, space and emotion in nature and architecture to create her sweeping abstract pieces. Through an awareness of her own movement and the movement of her surroundings, Scherr cultivates an experience for viewers – a reflection of creative motion typically witnessed only in that which is unaltered by the human hand. Using acrylic and spray paint on a range of canvas, glass, metal, rugs and textiles, Scherr offers her clients access to originals, high-resolution limited-edition prints and commissioned work that interprets a particular scene, place or feeling.

CV

2024 Solo Exhibit, Pottersville and Main Interior Design, New Jersey

2023 Artist in Residence, Blairsden Mansion, New Jersey

2022 Solo Exhibit, Somerset Hills Art Collective, New Jersey

2022 Installation, Porter Advisory / The Yard, Gowanus

2021 The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn

2021 Solo Exhibit, The Highline Nine, NYC 

2019 The Other Art Fair, Chicago

2019 Featured Artist, Gigantic Studios, NYC

2018 Permanent Collection, SJG Properties, Washington, DC

2017 Solo Show, Riverside Gallery, New Jersey

2016 Group Show, Bloomfield College Art Gallery, New Jersey

2016 Group Show, Riverside Gallery, New Jersey

2015 Group Show, Riverside Galley, New Jersey

2014 Featured Artist, The Han Horse, New York City

BIO

Alison Scherr is a New Jersey based artist with work in private family collections and institutions such as SJG Properties in Washington DC, where a commissioned piece hangs in the lobby of their Southern Building, adjacent to the White House. Scherr has exhibited her work in venues including Riverside Gallery, NJ, The Other Art Fair - Chicago, Bloomfield College Gallery and the Han Horse, NYC. She was artist in residence at the Vermont Studio Center. Scherr studied photography and received a BFA from Syracuse University. After college, she moved to New York City where she worked as a photographer then segued into a career as a prop stylist, styling sets for clients including Jameson, Conde Nast & Bloomingdales. 

Scherr's experience as a stylist enhanced her natural inclination to look beyond the expected. Now a full time painter, Alison uses industrial materials as her canvas, juxtaposing them with natural graphic elements. She interprets the movement of light and patterns in nature, images unaltered by the human hand. Her work contains elements of the unfinished and abstract. 

ARTIST STATEMENT

I am a painter interpreting the movement of light and patterns in nature, images unaltered by the human hand. Using a mix of house paint, ink, pastel and spray paint, I create sometimes large scale paintings on drop cloth, plexiglas or sheet metal that are evocative of stopped moments of time. 

My process often begins with quickly pulling and dropping paint across the canvas, exploring my wingspan and how I move with the paint. I then layer graphic or symbolic marks to articulate a hidden dialogue in the natural world. My work explores the themes of unspoken language through movement and layering of color. Like nature, my paintings have an element of the unfinished and spontaneous.

PRESS

NEW JERSEY MONTHLY MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2024

Larger Than Life

IN SECTION: GARDEN VARIETY TASTEMAKER

This Somerset County artist captures the marvel of nature in a big way.

BROAD STROKES Painter Alison Scherr of Peapack favors industrial materials to depict nature’s light and patterns in her dramatic artwork.

"Ilove that art has the ability to connect people to their higher selves," says artist Alison Scherr of Peapack. With her reputation for painting emotive, larger-than-life interpretations of the movement of light and patterns in nature, Scherr has amassed a steadily growing fan base.

She began her career as a photographer in New York City, collaborating with magazine and record-label clients, often adding a layer of paint to her images. She later evolved into a prop stylist, designing still-life sets for ad campaigns and magazines for such luminaries as Condé Nast and Bloomingdale’s.

"As a photographer, I captured people and created elaborate costumes and magical worlds," she says. "But when I moved to the New Jersey countryside in 2012, my world and physical space opened up, and I began painting full-time. The subject matter of my paintings started with people, then moved to florals and, more recently, to abstracts on canvas. I also create representational plexiglas paintings that sometimes include hidden messages."

The most monumental painting she has sold thus far, Field Burn ll, is 7 by 9 feet and hangs in an art collector’s light-filled, modern home in Wyoming. "I sell a lot of paintings directly to collectors, both established and first-time art buyers," she explains. "I often work with interior designers and also love making pieces for corporate spaces." Her art has been exhibited in several states, and a large commissioned piece hangs in Washington, DC, in the lobby of a building adjacent to the White House.

Scherr has worked out of multiple studios, recently at Whittemore Nature Preserve in Oldwick, and also in a privately owned manor house. "Now I’ve taken over our dining room and living room, where incredible, big windows let the light come in," she says. (Scherr lives in what she calls the Hobbit House, a former water-cistern structure built into the side of a berm.) She typically paints her oversized canvases on the floor, unstretched, using industrial materials. "I like the support of the floor beneath, and it gives me the flexibility to walk around, or on top of, the canvas. My paint strokes are very broad and splashy, and the process requires a lot of physical effort," she notes. "As I create with a mix of house paint, ink, pastels and spray paint, I turn off my thoughts and allow music to guide my movements."

A curated collection of Scherr’s work resides at Pottersville and Main, an interior-design studio and retail shop in Gladstone, just a stone’s throw from her home. "I love working with owners John and Geoffrey," she says. "In fact, we’re collaborating on a collection to debut in their space soon." Scherr also plans to launch a bespoke jewelry line when the leaves begin to fall.

— Susan Brierly Bush

ALISON SCHERR

To view the artist’s work, visit AlisonScherr.com or @AscherrArt on Instagram.

Objects of Art

POTTERSVILLE AND MAIN, an interior design studio and home furnishings gallery, offers a modern twist on country living. Owners John Dransfield and Geoffrey Ross have pooled their encyclopedic knowledge of interior design to imbue their new shop with an edited, contemporary viewpoint. The shop is located at 271 Main Street in bucolic Gladstone; follow on Instagram @pottersville_and_main.

Follow our style editor on Instagram @susanbrierlybush