Alan James McLeod

After a brief but successful career as a freelance textile designer for companies like Warner Fabrics, John Lewis, and Habitat, Alan took a long break from the world of art and design. He returned in earnest at the beginning of 2014, producing hand-painted papers that he often collages to create mainly abstract and highly textural artworks.

Originally inspired by the landscapes around him and by worn and weathered surfaces, Alan now uses imagined artifacts and relics, music, and memory as starting points for contemplative and decorative work. This work invites the viewer’s own interpretation. Alan creates silent poetry in his dreamlike, meditative paintings, often with a hidden narrative or message to uncover.

His mixed-media approach involves water-based paints on paper and fabric, often rubbed with clear wax, then scraped back or washed to reveal the layers of color beneath. Through a harmonious blend of colours and recurring motifs—moon, stars, flowers, and leaves—there’s a lingering feeling of nostalgia combined with an abstracted sense of the surrounding landscape.