Alison Leigh Menke
Clarksville, MD
Alison Leigh Menke is an expressive impressionist. She loves painting directly from life and creating work in plein air. Her approach emphasizes the importance of expressing a true sense of light and place while showcasing the rich qualities of oil paint and brushwork. Painting thick and thinking abstract design, she uses composition, texture, and vibrant color to move a viewer around her painting. Through the Covid Pandemic, and a year of cancelled shows, Alison has focused her attention to Studio painting often developing plein air pieces into larger studio works.
Born in Caracas, Venezuela in 1987 and raised in Clarksville, Maryland, Alison is fluent in both Spanish and English. She graduated in 2010 from the University of Maryland with a degree in Art and Art History and studied abroad in Amsterdam and Greece. Constantly traveling, she has competed in nearly one hundred national and international plein air competitions and festivals over the course of the last six years. As she strives for greater challenges Alison has produced massive size works. Commissioned work is permanently on display at the National Harbor in DC. She shows in several galleries, predominantly HorseSpirit Arts Gallery in Savage, MD, and is featured in Plein Air Magazine’s Dec – Jan 2020 issue along with many other publications. Alison spends part of her time on the island of Puerto Rico. There she is surrounded by tropical inspirations that really expand her color palette.
Organizations
Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association (MAPAPA) – Paint Out Support Board Member (2014 – present)
American Impressionist Society (AIS) – Associate Member (2017 – present)
Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) – Artist Member (2015 – present)
Washington Project of the Arts (2011 – 2015)
Junior Member of the Arts Club of Washington (2014- 2015)
Awards
2020 - Lighthouse Plein Air Festival - Best Overall Boat and 2nd Place Paint Out
2020 - Olmsted Plein Air Invitational - 1st Place PaintQuick™
