ART + DESIGN
Welcome to
Plante Creative Studio,
a visual art and design studio
in Virginia.
Explore the studio…
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Multidisciplinary Artist and Freelance Designer
— Plante Creative Studio —
Hello! My name is Alyson Plante and I am dedicated to living a creative life. I bring over thirty years of experience as an art director and designer who specializes in publication design, visual identity, and advertising design.
As a multidisciplinary artist, I enjoy working as a painter, photographer, and creative writer. My creative practice also includes mixed media, ceramics, printmaking, and fiber art. I find that it’s all connected: color, pattern, design, art that inspires writing, writing that inspires art. For me, it’s about continuing to learn, to collaborate, to experiment, to play, to see.
DESIGN: I have a BFA degree in Design from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Through Plante Creative Studio, I provide creative solutions and production services to publishers, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations. My professional work focuses on publication design, visual identity, advertising design, and web graphics.
VISUAL ART: As a practicing artist, my mission is to keep at it — keep sharpening my eye, keep getting my hands dirty — whether that means working in clay or found objects or fabric or paint. As a painter, I enjoy the palimpsest approach which embraces the eroding and layering of surfaces as a representation of memories and lived experiences. My paintings are expressive and layered through overlapping visuals, intuitive mark-making, scrapings, and imperfections which include visible erasures and ghosted visuals. My painterly style and vibrant exploration of color and imagery are defining elements in my art. My paintings and photography have been shown regionally and have been commissioned for commercial and private projects.
WRITING: I’m an avid reader and writer who explores the human condition through literary fiction and poetry. My poetry has appeared in online journals, on street murals in Charlotte, in art exhibitions in Richmond, and in creative vending machines in DC. My poetry chapbooks include Void Darlings and Overgrown Gardens. I’m currently working on a short story collection.
What inspires the work?
My approach is multidisciplinary so I work across several creative disciplines. In this way I continue to sharpen my artistic and technical abilities as I keep discovering, learning, and engaging with this ever-changing world.
As an art director and designer I enjoy working with clients to develop effective visual and strategic solutions for their projects. I work well with deadlines and enjoy focusing on clarity and understanding.
With photography and video it’s about staying curious, being mindful, and having a disciplined eye. I love capturing the details of old industrial buildings and cityscapes, exploring the nuanced textures and beauty of decaying rural landscapes, as well as capturing the shadowy mysteries found in nature during a walk in the woods. My work typically explores light and shadow, fragments and movement and impermanence, and often features strange kaleidoscopic, mirrored imagery.
As a creative writer, I enjoy exploring the human condition through literary fiction and poetry. I celebrate those traditions and deep connections that exist between visual art and creative writing. Writing allows me to remain creative and engaged, it’s a process that sharpens my senses, and is another way to explore ideas and to think deeply, and, ultimately, it is a way to engage with others. That is to say, when I’m not working on a project, I’m usually reading in order to learn from other writers.
And then there’s painting. Painting is about exploring gesture and movement, color and texture and shapes, imagery and style and creative expression. I’m passionate about the work I create in my studios here in Virginia. Being an artist truly is a wonderful way to explore life. I’m mesmerized by vibrant color, I love playing with pattern and texture, and I tend to build up my canvases with layers of intuitive brushstrokes and erasures. Mixed media projects also invite the exploration of different materials, tools, and found objects.
As for inspiration, it’s all around, so much captures my imagination: nature, landscapes, music, memories, film, travel, dreams, folklore and mythology and stories. But mostly I just really enjoy taking pride in my work.
Let’s Get Creative.
If you need art direction, print design services, digital design, or advertising design, Plante Creative Studio is here to help.
Feeling Artsy?
Thank you for your interest in my creative work. Artist’s CV, pricing, and further details are available upon request.