Alan W Shelley DiplArch(Hons) RIBA CertEd
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Born at Sidcup, Kent in 1935, Alan Shelley worked as an architect after studying at the Medway College of Art in Rochester and obtained his diploma at the Polytechnic of North London. After working in various architectural offices he ran his own practice in Sidcup from 1975 to 1984 then, leaving architecture, he lectured in data processing at the South East London College in Lewisham for five years. He took up painting full time in the summer of 1988 and now lives at Erith, Kent.

Alan has drawn and painted for as long as he can remember and has exhibited since 1984. Having used most media he now concentrates on watercolour although he also uses oils and acrylic. His style owes much to his architectural background but developed greatly through studying the work of artists like Turner and Cotman and also contemporaries such as Rowland Hilder, Edward Seago and John Yardley and like them he seeks in all his work to capture mood and atmosphere rather than mere photographic accuracy. Most of Alan's paintings are landscapes and seascapes but he also paints portraits and still life and has a great interest in action subjects; he welcomes commissions for all types of work including house, vehicle or boat "portraits". Visit his website at http://alanshelley.co.uk

His work has been shown in over one hundred one-man shows and shared exhibitions, has displayed in galleries in Kent, Cumbria and Somerset and is represented in private collections in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, USA and Kuwait. He has exhibited as a non-member at the Mall Galleries with the Society of Wildlife Artists and the Royal Society of Marine Artists. Bexley Libraries & Museums Department, Bromley Local Studies Department, Kent County Council, Lewisham Libraries and the Architects' Registration Council UK have all purchased his paintings. During 1997 Alan ran the “ArtBox� studio/gallery in Fairfield Halls, Croydon for the display and sale of his work. In 1999 he became a member of the Cantium Group of Artists having exhibited with them for some years.

For some years Alan tutored art groups including a summer series of "Watercolour Workshops" aimed primarily at providing enthusiastic encouragement and guidance to those starting out or seeking to improve their watercolour painting. He tutored regularly for two years at Art For All in Bromley, and conducted a weekday afternoon class aimed at beginners and improvers. He has often been asked to speak about his work to church and art groups either with slides or painting demonstrations.