Malcolm Allen

I worked for the best part of twenty years as a graphic designer and illustrator before I tired of the relentless pursuit of heavyweight creative excellence on a lightweight budget. I had also started to devote an increasing amount of time and effort to my alcoholism; something had to give and the bottle seemed a more forgiving and less demanding mistress than the Apple-Mac.
I devoted all of my time and money to drink and drugs and in the all the years that we were an item they never once let me down, I simply grew too needy. In 2009, isolated, homeless and scared of the inevitable, I went looking for an exit and on my way out picked up a paint brush.
Painting has proven to be the most beneficial and selfish of therapies; my early efforts mirrored where I was at the time, uncomfortable, ugly, sullen, lonely, angry and self-pitying. Over time those rough edges have been smoothed with ideas of strength, resilience, adaptability, beauty and pleasure.
I now live and continue to learn how to paint in Folkestone's Creative Quarter.

BA (Hons) Graphic Design and Illustration

'Towering Achievements' September 2012
Sassoon Gallery,Folkestone