Alyson managed to escape the dreary grey British weather and set up a studio in the beautiful sunny Algarve in Portugal. Giving up an illustrious and successful career in education may have seemed a crazy thing to do – but the creative call of her paints and brushes became too loud and insistent a sound to ignore. She now spends her days either in the studio painting; or out with her husband and his camera, exploring the many beautiful and unspoilt beaches of the Algarve; or hidden ‘local’ villages that dot the Portuguese landscape.