For more than twenty years, Alan worked as a successful sculptor, mainly in wood. As one of Scotland’s foremost woodcarvers, his work tackled religious, wildlife, Celtic, maritime and historical subjects using all kinds of native hardwoods such as lime and Scottish oak. His many commissioned pieces included outdoor and indoor carvings as diverse as a statue of Christ on the Cross and a mysterious Green Man. One of his best loved works is 'Tam and Meg' - from the poem by Robert Burns - a life size carving specially commissioned for the Tam O'Shanter Experience in Alloway. Latterly, he concentrated on private commissions, interior design pieces such as a carved newel post for a client in London, and a number of garden carvings

However problems with arthritis (an occupational hazard) were making his huge, trademark carvings increasingly demanding. Since most carvings begin with a sketch, and occasionally with a painting he has also spent many years painting and illustrating in oils and acrylics. At first he was tempted to try equestrian subjects, since he had been noted for his ability to carve wonderfully sculptural horses, but his work has become increasingly unconventional.

More recently, he has been concentrating on charming and unusual Lowryesque works, often exploring the history of the traditional Scottish relationship with urban and rural settings, with seaside holidays and pastimes. These have been called ‘naive’ but this is not from any conscious effort on his part. A fellow artist has described them as a cross between ‘Arthur Rackham and Indian Art.’

It is partly because of his sculptural background that he has been prompted to free himself to explore figures in a colourful landscape. Vivid colour fascinates him, as do figures moving and interacting within bright seascapes, city parks and so on. The potential for a kind of storytelling within the picture – what has happened before, what might occur after - also interests him enormously, again because wood sculpture is so very different.

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Hope, End of Shift and Pipe, Dream and Ice cream are all currently on display in the Beresford Gallery in Ayr.