Artist Spotlight: Paignton business psychologist turned artist redefining life after 40 years

This fortnight I'm delighted to introduce Allison McSparron-Edwards, a Paignton-based oil painter who traded a 40-year career in boardrooms for a life in the studio.

From being told she couldn't work in mines because her "sex might distract the workforce" to creating powerful animal and human portraits, Allison's journey is one of persistence, rebellion, and finally following her soul's true calling.

Tell us about your journey from Chartered Accountant and Business Psychologist to full-time artist - that's quite a leap! What made you take it in 2020?

"I excelled at art at school but due to the lack of finances, felt compelled to pursue more practical studies. I was also a rebel who believed in women's lib so I pursued two careers dominated by men (I think I must have been a masochist).

"I became a Geologist but was told that I could not work in mines or in the field because my sex might distract the workforce. Instead, I went to London and became a Chartered Accountant, but to be honest, hated it. Earning good money does not feed the inner soul!

"I preferred creating solutions to problems and working with people rather than dealing with dry paper financials. Subsequently, I became a people orientated management consultant and trained as a business Psychologist and a counsellor. I loved it.

"I met people all over the UK, helped them sort out their business problems and was never bored. It also meant that I got to visit art galleries and museums wherever I worked, thus feeding my inner artist.

"In 2020 the pandemic hit just as I was about to retire and I thought it is now or never in terms of working 100% on my art. In 2024/2025 I studied with, and obtained a Diploma in Painting, from Martin Kinnear RCA, an award-winning contemporary artist."

You've lived all over - from Newcastle to Canada to finally settling in Paignton. How have all those places influenced your work?

"Living in so many places enabled me to experience other cultures, to visit archaeology sites and museums, to absorb history and, when I had the time, to paint in watercolour and sketch.

"Peru, India and China were three of my favourite places as the colours and vibrancy were such a contrast to the dullness of post war England. In each of those countries (and the UK), I also had the chance to meet exotic animals and birds all of which left a lasting impression on me and the essence of which I have tried to catch in some of my paintings."

Your specialty is animal and human portraiture - what draws you to painting people and animals?

"I think that capturing something about the inner thoughts of a person and of animals stems from my Psychological background. I always joke that 'It's the eyes - they do seem to me to be the window to the soul'. Get them right and the rest seems to flow."

What does your studio look like and do you have any creative rituals?

"Although I am at heart a very, very organised and neat person once I start to paint, I lose that aspect of my character. Every now and then, I tidy up my studio and put everything away and then I start on a new painting and I lose it!

"I get so engrossed in what I am doing that I leave the tops off paint tubes, brushes sticking up in jars of odourless spirits and bins full of rags. I can't settle till I have finished a painting and then get desperate to varnish it as quickly as possible.

"I don't have a ritual. I can't work in a noisy environment so I don't even play music as I find it such a distraction. I do have a studio dog (a black chow chow) who occasionally gets caught under the casters on my chair and has even suffered the ignominy of getting paint on her beautiful coat."

Which artist, living or dead, would you love to have coffee with and why?

"This is such a difficult question to answer. I love such a wide range of artists from the very technical, like Caravaggio and Van Eyck, through to the very modern, such as Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele.

"Chuck Close, who started as a photo realist painter and then gravitated towards abstraction after a terrible illness fascinates me. I would like to talk to artists who have evolved over time to try and understand what caused the changes and whether they were happy with them or not."

What are you working on right now that's got you excited?

"I am in the process of creating an abstracted flamingo. I am intent on creating a strong contrast between the background and the foreground and ensuring the chroma and the values are both equally strong. It's proving to be quite a challenge as pushing the chroma can sometimes lose the strong values that I want."

Where can people see your work and find out about your classes?

"I exhibit work through Devon Open Studios, various local art societies and am entering lots of online competitions. My work is also available to view at my studio gallery which houses a wide selection of work. I run workshops on request and provide one on one tuition. These mainly focus on colour management, charcoal, life drawing and portraiture."

What's your big dream for 2026?

"My big dream is to continue to narrow down and clarify my oeuvre. I believe that this will include narrative based contemporary figurative work and large animal portraits. I want to be accepted into a major competition such as the Summer Exhibition in London; a place I have been to many times and to build up a clientele of interested collectors. I love teaching and am also open to any opportunities to teach."

What strikes me most about Allison's story is the way she kept feeding her inner artist even while navigating careers that didn't quite fit. Those gallery visits during business trips, the watercolours squeezed in between consultancy work, the sketching while travelling to Peru, India and China - she was always an artist, just waiting for the right moment to claim it fully.

Her background in psychology gives her portraits a distinctive depth - she's not just capturing a likeness, she's capturing something of the inner life. That skill, honed over decades of working with people and solving problems, now serves a different purpose: revealing the soul through eyes on canvas.

If you're interested in life drawing, portraiture or simply want to see Allison's powerful work in person, her studio gallery in Paignton is open by appointment. And if you'd like to learn from someone who understands both the technical mastery and the psychological depth of portraiture, her one-on-one tuition could be exactly what you need (Instagram: @mcsparronartist)

If you'd like to be featured in our Artist Spotlight series or know of local creative projects we should cover, drop me a line athannah@print2wall.co.uk. At Print2Wall, we offer museum-quality fine art printing and bespoke framing services to help artists and photographers bring their vision to life – visit us at www.print2wall.co.uk