Alan-A wandering minstrel Print

I literally fell into painting after writing short stories and poems for children and desperately wanting to be able to create and draw the characters myself. I started using my creative brain after the onset of M.E. with complications which left me unable to go out to work on a daily basis and I must admit, I now love my life. My writing has had some success, short stories and poems published in different anthologies and magazines in various countries, both for children and adults, and I can happily say, my paintings are now residing in many countries also, which gives me a purpose and a sense of still contributing to society. Portraiture remains one of my main strengths, but I have also found that flowers in their innocence can often spark off a painting which upon completion bears no resemblance to the initial spark. I use acrylics, tempera, watercolour and occasionally gouache or pastels depending on the subject matter and the style I wish to create, but tempera for portraits remains my main love. As for exhibitions, I have been fortunate to have three separate one’s, one in North East England which received a lot of coverage from the media and one in Guernsey, again with media coverage and one in Portugal, so I feel rather fortunate that other people appreciate, like and buy my work. Slowly, I am amassing work to be able to have a further exhibition either later this year or early 2019. I am also creating a painting/colouring book for grown ups, with all drawings containing unusual elements. This is a slow process but I am aiming for twenty to twenty five pages that can be painted and then framed, once I find a suitable publisher.