About

History

Born in Dublin in 1967, Alan grew up in a suburban environment on the northside of Dublin city. He attended a mainly sports-driven school in the 1980’s where art was commonly perceived as a secondary subject. But Alan continued his artistic syllabus in school and achieved full honours upon leaving secondary level.

After a two-year interlude of regular work, Alan attended third-level education at The College of Marketing & Design in Dublin city where he completed his course and prescribed examinations in design, display, communications and business studies. He continued his interest in design by completing a course in desktop-publishing and camerawork at a national training centre in Dublin. This was in conjunction with the London City & Guilds organisation.

Working in Print

Having finished art college and various design courses Alan pursued a career in the print and design industry. While continuing art as a hobby he slowly introduced his drawings into design-related work, eg. brochures, leaflets etc. Throughout the coming years Alan moved from small design quarters to large print houses in Ireland. Within a few years Alan added more skills including darkroom operator and print-plate processing to his workload. Sadly, such trades quickly became obsolete over the next few years.

New beginnings

New technology in the print industry meant fewer staff requirements for management and opportunities for retraining were not made available. Due to certain circumstances an opportunity for the artist to move abroad to Finland came about. It was in the small town of Karis where Alan decided to re-igniite his interest in art. Having bought a new house he began painting again and created a small art business called The Art Garage as a platform to sell his art.