Alison's lifelong passion for the world of art endures today

Published on Thursday 22 May 2008 10:27

ALISON GEISSLER, 101, the oldest graduate of the Edinburgh College of Art, has been invited back for a special display of her work today.

Alison McDonald was born in 1907, the year the college was founded. She was brought up in Montgomery Street and attended Mary Erskine School.

Passionate about art from a young age, Alison enrolled on a drawing and painting course at the college in 1925. She also studied costume design.

She met William Hastie Geissler, a former student and tutor at the college, and they married in 1934. He became renowned for his watercolours of the natural world, although he is sometimes described as a neglected member of the so-called "Edinburgh School".

The couple had three children, Catherine, Paul and Eric. Alison returned to the college during the Second World War to collect her ration book, as this was where they were being dispensed.

As her youngest child was now at school, she decided to return to studying and was inspired to retrain as a glass engraver.

Alison's beautifully engraved glasses, decanters and trophies soon became highly sought after. She received commissions from all over the country, including the Royal Family, royal colleges and other organisations.

Some of the finest examples of her work are owned by the National Museum of Scotland, in Chamber Street.

Her husband taught at Moray House, and was a member of the Society of Scottish Artists and the Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour. His work is held in several major collections, including Edinburgh's City Art Centre. He died in 1963.

Alison continued engraving until she was 94, when her hands became too unsteady. But she is still passionately interested in art, regularly attending Capital exhibitions.

She lives in Leith and has four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Her son Paul said: "She never worries about anything – I think that is perhaps the secret of her longevity.

"Her main interest has always been art. She still does dressmaking and makes Christmas cards."

Professor Ian Howard, Principal of Edinburgh College of Art, said: "We are tremendously proud of Alison, our oldest alumna. Her work is a testament to the quality of the teaching which the college has delivered over the many years, and also a credit to the calibre of student which we continue to attract.

"Her talent, her dedication to her art, and the enthusiasm she still has for art and design of all kinds make her a wonderful role model for our current students, as well as a very special person whom we are honoured to celebrate."