Untrained as an artist, Alan worked as a Remote Area Nurse for 20 years. He became overcome by the urge to paint - to capture something of how his extraordinary surroundings affected him- while working in an Aboriginal community in Western Australia in 2009. When he swapped a first aid kit for scraps of canvas from the local art centre, the flood gates were opened.
The abstract, emotive works he produced spoke to the juxtaposition of nature and the man-made, a clash of cultures and his personal search for meaning. They reflected the vastness and majesty of places well beyond the Outback, and hinted at the spiritual implications and unique challenges inherit in living in an isolated, little -visited environment.
Years later, works pertaining to his coastal home began to emerge.