Allan Stroud
Portrait of a Friend

Delighted to welcome Allan Stroud (b.1984) to the Wallignton Gallery a talented artist who describes his work as follows:

I was born in Edinburgh and from a very young age, I was always drawing. I was fascinated in drawing everything around me, especially machinery. Drawing eventually gave way to painting, but as I grew older I never thought seriously about art as anything beyond something I did for my own enjoyment. As a result, I did not attend art college or receive any formal art education. After attempting several careers in archaeology, offices and the NHS, I realised that the one true constant in my life was art and that what I really wanted to do was paint. 

All my current work is done in oils, which is a medium I absolutely love. Much of my work is inspired by the sea or at least man's interaction with it - ships, shipbuilding and work at sea. The part of Edinburgh where I grew up was right on the seashore, so I would literally see it, hear it and smell it every day of my childhood. Added to this was an uncle in the Royal Navy who brought me a string of posters and stories about the ships he served on. Consequently, my love for the sea is almost as much a part of me as is art. This is reflected in much of my artwork and I have been fortunate to have had several nautical themed pictures exhibited by the Royal Society of Marine Artists in 2019 and 2020. I am always keen to try and challenge myself and try new things, which has lead me to become interested in portraiture too.