A woman smiling next to a cartoon dog waving with a speech bubble saying 'Hello!'

Hello! I’m Stevie, Alison’s creative muse (and dog). Despite creating this amazing portfolio, Alison still has a hard time writing about herself. Thankfully, I am here to do it for her!

So, here some stuff to know about Alison:

Alison grew up on the Piscataqua River (Maine), She went to college on the bank’s of the St. Lawrence (Queen’s University, Ontario). She went to graduate school a stone’s throw from the Thames (University College London). Now she lives by the gentle currents of the East River (Brooklyn). 

Cartoon of a dog rowing a boat on water, speaking to a duck, with text "We both love that low tide smell."

Alison has always loved to draw and drew a lot as a kid. 

But for some reason when Alison was “grown up”, she stopped drawing for a long, long time. 

Cartoon dog observing a child's drawing of a yellow dog with a green collar labeled "CAVIN," speech bubble reads "Hmmm, I'm sensing a theme."

Alison studied Sustainable Urban Planning and Design and worked for the city of New York as an Urban Planner. 

Cartoon dog in hard hat looking at a city map with speech bubble saying, "Let’s move that building a bit to the left." Note below reads, "NOTE: this is not what urban planners do."

This is where her love of public art began!

Cartoon of a dog painting abstract shapes on a wall, holding a paintbrush with green paint, while a mouse asks, "Hey buddy, do you have a permit?"

In 2018, Alison picked up watercolor painting as a hobby. Despite the very poor results, she was hooked.  Alison took night classes, she studied illustration, storytelling, and sequential art with the Art Students League of New York and the School of Visual Arts. 

In 2021, Alison left her career in urban planning to pursue a career as an illustrator. 

Illustration of a concerned dog with a speech bubble saying, "I hope she gets better fast," looking at another dog lying down near a red wall.

Since then, she’s worked with small businesses, non-profit organizations, and city governments. She’s created public murals, ice sculptures, coloring books pages, hockey jerseys, wedding programs - the list goes on and on - she’s done a lot! 

Her illustrations were published in Gnomes and Ungnomes: Poems of Hidden Creatures.

Oh, and she had a baby!

Illustration of a dog reading a book and saying, "It used to be a lot quieter around here," next to a child looking at a picture book and saying, "GABA DADA DI!"

Alison writes a weekly(ish) newsletter called Practice Makes where she writes all about her artistic practice.

You can also follow her on instagram at @alisoncynamon

Cartoon dog at a laptop with speech bubble saying "Would recommend to a friend." Screen reads "Practice makes." Coffee mug with tennis ball.

That’s pretty much Alison in a nutshell!

If you want to learn more you can ask her yourself - just e-mail her at hello@alisoncynamon.com

Alison standing attaching drawings to a large white board in a room with wooden floors. A window on the right provides a view of greenery outside. The whiteboard is on a rolling stand and displays various illustrations and sketches.