It all began with a house—and not just any house. The yellow 1913 craftsman cottage sat on the street where Liz Allison first met her husband Matt. On a gorgeous May afternoon, while strolling through the Southside neighborhood years later, they knocked on the front door and asked the elderly couple who answered, “Can we buy this house?” The owners welcomed the Allisons inside, and the rest was history—in more ways than one.
Liz grew up in an atmosphere where creativity was embedded in everyday life. She remembers spending her Friday nights watching HGTV with her mom and took ballet with the dream of becoming a professional dancer. But at the age of 17, an athletic accident ended in a devastating foot injury—11 fractures, 9 breaks, and a diagnosis that she may never walk normally again.
During the year of limited mobility that followed, Liz took an interest in painting and drawing, discovering she liked art and was good at it. “It spiraled from there,” she remembers. “I put my portfolio out there, kind of on a whim, and got accepted to Samford University on a fine arts scholarship.” She fell in love with Birmingham. “This city holds so much nostalgia for me because of its influence on who I became as an adult—finding my voice and finding my style—it was all birthed here.”
A self-taught photographer and natural entrepreneur, Liz took photos throughout college to support herself. By the time she graduated from Samford, she had a thriving wedding photography business and had abandoned painting as a therapeutic outlet.
Over 15 years of running her own business, Liz captured photos as a portrait and humanitarian photographer, which took her to numerous countries spanning four continents. “Many artists are introverted, but I love people, so I tried to find an art form that connected me with people and their cultures.” Her photography garnered attention from every corner of the internet, leading to prestigious opportunities such as being published by The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Then, in 2022, Liz and Matt moved into that yellow house in Five Points with their one-year-old son, Asher, and a new chapter began. They started the involved process of restoring the home to its original glory piece by piece. “I love old things. Give me all the antiques. I’m a grandma at heart!” Liz says.
Last year, the Allisons welcomed another son—Abel—to the family. “And so, as an act of faith, I decided to step back from photography and start focusing on raising these little boys,” Liz explains. “I believe your house is a reflection of who you are and what you are fostering. I want my kids to grow up in a very magical, creative environment, so I started painting ethereal dreamscapes throughout the house.” Starting with her firstborn’s nursery, she painted a 15-foot mural with pastoral scenes based on Psalm 23 as a prayer over his life. When she shared a photo online, it quickly captured attention. When she shared an image of the mural she painted in her kitchen, it drew over a million views.
Soon, Liz found herself adorning the vast walls of a monastery in England or lying on a scaffold painting the 13-foot curved walls of a castle turret in Homewood. With thick brushes, calming hues—and sometimes her infant strapped to her chest—she moves about the room painting to the serene sounds of her favorite band, Sleeping at Last, unless she turns to 2000s pop for an extra burst of energy on a late-night project.
Liz’s home is her canvas, and her family is her muse. It’s on the walls of her house that she experiments with techniques that have taken her all over the globe. As Matt finishes a cabinet build-out, their boys are close at hand learning to use tools. When Liz finds Asher drawing on the mural she painted in his room, she doesn’t stop him. She smiles. “Mommy colors on the walls all the time, so how can I tell him not to?” she laughs.
Liz is building more than an art career. She’s building a legacy—a home filled with wonder, where creativity isn’t just encouraged but celebrated—a place where her children will grow up seeing beauty as a way to heal and connect. “Art saved me. Painting is how I’ve worked through hard times throughout my life,” she says. “Creativity is one of the greatest gifts we can share—and one thing humanity will always need.”