Alison Atkin

@alisonatkin

Artist. Osteoarchaeologist. Canadian. Doing creative things with heritage in the NW (UK). Multi-passionate person. Can expect knitting, gardening, ttrpg, nerdery. Aprendiendo español! she/her

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Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· 14d

Sharing this on Bsky, since WoG aren't on here, but lots of artists are! Applications are now open for two Glass Artists in Residence 2026–27 Applications close 15 August 2026 (11:59pm GMT). Apply here: www.worldofglass.com/venue-inform...

A poster of a person, wearing protective equipment working on a cone shaped piece of blown glass, cooling it with an air blower in a glass studio. White text reads: Open Call, artist residency, The World of Glass, applications close 15 August 2026. Supported by the HLF and Arts Council of England.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jul 4

The locals are starting to rebel.

A suburban English street with overgrown verges between the pavements (sidewalks) and the street. It's a very green area with lots of trees.

A suburban English street with verges between the pavements (sidewalks) and street neatly, but freshly, edged, so there is still dirt visible where the grass used to be overgrown. It's a very green area with lots of trees.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jul 4

It turns out, putting up nets makes a pretty big difference. Sorry birds, these are my berries this year!

A yellow ceramic dish held by a hand, it's about half full of raspberries, blueberries, red currants and black currants.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jul 1

It's really hard to choose a favourite bird. But guys, wood pigeons are pretty high up there.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jun 28

hey guess what

A small discoloured whiteish ball stuck to a smooth white ceiling. It is barely attached and it's covered in dust and tiny dirt particles. In the background is a kitchen and many plants, out of focus.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jun 21

That looks like great fun! Whereas over here, mistakes were made this morning. (By me, I made the mistakes. 😄) Had to message my friend to say his dogs may not be returned in the same condition as on their arrival. Oops.

Two dogs, on leads, in a fern and bracken forest, on a path. One is a white and grey greyhound. The other is a brown boxer cross, who is covered in mud and licking her own face.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· May 4

Thanks @majnouna.com for the pen case idea! My first prototype for an inner to hold my magnetic sunglasses' frame. It's a Muji slimline case with some craft foam in it and it's almost an exactly perfect fit! A little bit more length than needed, but sooo much thinner than a regular glasses case.

A small metal case, light grey, open on a desk. The inside is grey and has a pair of thin black sunglasses' front inside (just the front frame and lenses without the arms).

A thin grey metal case, snapped closed, on a wooden desk with a pencil balanced next to its edge to show that it's only about 1cm thick, from the closed top to the bottom.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Apr 27

I am very fond of this weird country and its wonderful people.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Apr 27

This is unironically the best thing I've purchased recently. An extremely tiny hoover. It seems so silly, but it's already paid for itself. Originally bought to remove crumbs from the cutlery drawer without needing to remove *everything* to take the insert out. I've now hoovered so many tiny things!

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Apr 10

Re-posted with alt-text.

A simple cream background with black serif font, a centered title and left aligned text.

A WHOLE CIVILIZATION WILL DIE TONIGHT

My son needs lunch, and I have
to put his backpack together,
but a whole civilization will
die tonight, so I'm wondering
if they've closed their schools.
Like, a snow day, maybe,
except instead of snow it's
"keep your children home so
if you die, you die together" —
instead of "we'll open back up
once the plows have cleared" it's
"we don't know if we'll be here tomorrow, hold your babies tight."

It's just "talk" I'm told,
which I've been told before.
"It's how the president makes his deals."
But I've never heard anyone talk about
other human beings this way, and I'm
not certain I can look my son in the eyes
if we all agree to stomach it one more time.

A civilization will die tonight,
but as I zip up his backpack and
kiss him off to school I think: [italics]
if this is what we call leadership
then I'm not entirely sure ours
isn't already dead.

Aligned to the right:
Signature of Michael F DuBois
@michaelfdubois

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Mar 15

Aww, I'm having a big office clear-out and I made the decision to get rid of all my MSc documents, etc. But I just found the original #plagueposter from my PhD! This was such a big moment and turning point for me. Four large panels of six smaller panels, written as an interactive comic. Just a peek.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Feb 2

Yesterday was a bit of a write off due to arriving home at 02:30. But guess what? 😄

A photo of kitchen, but mostly angled up to see the white smooth ceiling, with pot lights, to the right is the darker open area of the staircase. On the kitchen ceiling is a very small almost imperceptible white ball, stuck, casting a small round shadow.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jan 4

your girl's been busy

A hallway landing with brown striped carpet, two closed white or off white doors, and another door slightly ajar into a blue room.

A hallway landing with brown striped carpet, one white door, and a door that was previously white is now a warm mid green - and another door slightly ajar into a blue room.

A view into an airing cupboard, the white door open, there's a hot water cylinder to the left about 1.5m high on the back wall is an electronic box. There is a tile patterned floor inside and a brown striped carpet outside. The door frame is bare or primed wood. Inside the walls are a mess of different bare plaster to dirty white and off white paint, holes, etc.

A view into an airing cupboard, the now green door open, there's a hot water cylinder to the left about 1.5m high on the back wall is an electronic box. There is a tile patterned floor inside and a brown striped carpet outside. There are now three slatted wooden installed in the upper half; the lowest is a corner shelf in the left above the cylinder, so an ironing board can still be put in on the right at full height. There are a few things on the shelves. The walls behind have been completely refinished and painted.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Jan 1

Happy New Year! 🎊 The ball in our house did *not* drop! Happy 2026, the year of the ceiling ball sweepstake.

A photo of mostly ceiling, over a kitchen and near a stairwell with a wooden handrail. Barely perceptible is a small ball stuck to the smooth white surface.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Dec 30

Hey guess what? It's still there!

A photo up towards the ceiling of a room that opens into the ceiling above a staircase. On the white, smooth ceiling is a barely perceptible small white ball.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Dec 27

I honestly forgot to check when we came in last night. When I remembered this morning: it's still there.

A picture taken at ceiling height, looking across the smooth white ceiling expanse, only marred by a nearly spherical white/translucent ball and it's shadow. Below, at ground level are various plants, items on a worktop, miscellany mess.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Dec 24

Still there...

An angled photo mostly of a white sloth kitchen ceiling with a barely perceptible transparent ball stuck to the ceiling.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Dec 23

On *Friday* these wee stocking stuffer balls arrived. Wanting to do due diligence that they wouldn't mark the walls/ceilings if I gifted it to our niblings, I threw one first onto the artex living room ceiling. No issues. Then tested it on the smooth kitchen ceiling... and it's *still* up there! 😄

A photo of a kitchen, but angled so mostly ceiling is visible. It's smooth white, with pot lights, and circled in green digital ink is a small almost invisible ball stuck to the ceiling.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Dec 11

I love this weird country

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Dec 9

When you live in a country where it starts to feel dark at 2pm, apparently you start doing this

A house in the dark, with colourful lights across the front, just above ground story window height. In the windows above there are strings of star lights. It all feels very warm and yellow. You can also just see to the right, in the back garden, more lights, with a bluer tone.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Nov 1

Last night marks the start of me going bigger every year now until eventually I'm one of those houses that ends up on the local news. 😄 (And @ianatkin.bsky.social is going to love that.)

A house in the dark at night. It's been decorated and illuminated with Halloween decorations. There are ghosts of different sizes, the two largest lit up in blue, and the smaller ones in the flower beds and windows of the house are white. There is a string on candles leading on a diagonal path up to the door. The biggest window downstairs is green. There are orange lot up carved pumpkins.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 31

I'm trying to get photos in between the trick or treaters now it's dark!

A dark scene outside. In the background is an apparently floating fabric ghost lit up blue, three smaller white fabric ghosts with lights, and an orange pumpkin carved with an octopus, sat in a round dish of water, lit up from the inside, but also with floating candles around it.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 31

My last pumpkin for 2025. My sweet summer child. I saw these two wee sunflowers holding on the other day and knew I wanted to use them. Then I saw its face and decided (maybe incorrectly) that he needed a brain on display. Maybe more of a 'some visible' light pumpkin, otherwise you lose the eyes!

A round orange pumpkin with small sunflowers for eyes and a small open smiling D mouth with two pumpkin seeds for teeth. It has a large tall stem on top.

A round orange pumpkin with small sunflowers for eyes and a small open smiling D mouth with two pumpkin seeds for teeth. In place of the stem on top is a smaller white pumpkin carved to look like a brain.

A lit up jack o' lantern with smiling D mouth with two front teeth, small wide set eyes barely glowing, and bright brain pumpkin on the top.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 31

Does everyone have their tiny potato coffins ready for tonight?

A dark, ominously lit in blue, inside of a woven basket. It's filled with Halloween candy and in the centre in a tiny black coffin with purple velvet lining it and in the centre a potato rests.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 31

For posterity, here's the three photos of the octo-pumpkin: daylight, nighttime, and the inspiration! I'll take another photo in-situ tonight, because it looks so cool sitting in the bird bath surrounded by water, especially with the pumpkin gradient.

A carved pumpkin on a wooden countertop. The pumpkin is orange at the bottom and green at the top. It's been carved with a Minoan style octopus, so it's simplified and a little goofy looking. It has a big bulbous head, two oval eyes, and eight tentacles weaving up from the bottom of the body and the pumpkin.

A jack o lantern, lit up orange, in the dark. It's been carved with a Minoan style octopus, so it's simplified and a little goofy looking. It has a big bulbous head, two oval eyes, and eight tentacles weaving up from the bottom of the body and the pumpkin. The tentacles all have a series of small holes for suckers along the bottom of their length.

A large bulbous ceramic vase in a museum. It's a pale tan with black glaze. It's been illustrated with a Minoan style octopus, so it's simplified and a little goofy looking. It has a big bulbous head, two oval eyes, and tentacles weaving up from the bottom of the body. In between the tentacles and in other negative spaces are stylised seaweed.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 30

Sticking with the maritime theme! This time a Minoan octopus vase inspired design. I'm hoping to display this one coming out of water, so I tweaked the angle. I have photographed this one, but I might wait and do it again tomorrow, because this is a very *wet* pumpkin (unintentional storytelling).

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 28

I saw this wee ichthyoid face while searching for ideas and just knew this would be it. An ode to Carter Tillinghast and his season long cry of "FISH PEOPLE!" throughout the @glasscannonnetwork.bsky.social Call of Cthulu show, Time for Chaos. Guys, I think I would die for this pumpkin.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 28

Behold... the 2025 face pumpkin! Inspired by many things, but first and foremost I went back to my jack o' lantern roots with an archaeology reference. The Undine / Vodena Vila sculpture from Lepensk Vir, from 6300 - 5900 BCE.

A carved pumpkin on a wooden countertop with grey tiles behind it. It's a tall oval orange pumpkin with a simple but expressive face; large circular eyes, with semi-circular shapes that curl underneath the eyes towards the nose. The nose is a rectangle that reaches up to join into the forehead and shape above the eyes. It has a wide downturned mouth. It almost looks upset. Below the face is a repeating pattern of vertical diamonds and triangles, almost like fish scales.

A tall oval orange pumpkin in the dark, lit from within. It has a simple but expressive face; large circular eyes, with semi-circular shapes that curl underneath the eyes towards the nose. The nose is a rectangle that reaches up to join into the forehead and shape above the eyes. It has a wide downturned mouth. It almost looks upset. Below the face is a repeating pattern of vertical diamonds and triangles, almost like fish scales.

A small stone sculpture on an acrylic plinth. It has been carved with small chips to create a simple but expressive face; large circular eyes, with semi-circular shapes that curl underneath the eyes towards the nose. The nose is a rectangle that reaches up to join into the forehead and shape above the eyes. It has a wide downturned mouth. It almost looks upset. Below the face is a repeating pattern of vertical diamonds and triangles, almost like fish scales. The bottom of this rounded stone has been broken off and it is flat on the plinth with a vertex of two faces visible on the front.

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 20

👻

A mostly black photo with a window, from outside, with three panels of rectangular leaded glass, lit up from below in bright green. It's glowing up a white patterned curtain. Below it says in the same green colour: Being the change I want to see in the world (aka starting to put up Halloween decorations).

Alison Atkin@alisonatkin· Oct 19

Hey, remember last year when I tried carving oranges?! 😄 Well, I'm still using them, upside down, with beeswax tealights inside *and they still smell like oranges*!