Lifestyle

Taking a detailed look at Alan's work

JULIE McNICHOLLS talks to Penrhyncoch painter Alan Percy Walker, whose exhibition of Welsh landmarks is currently on show at the National Library of Wales…

 

 

THE wonderful work of a Penrhyncoch painter has been impressing visitors to the National Library of Wales since December.
Now in its final week, the Cambrian News looks at the life of Alan Percy Walker (pictured).

Born and raised in Kent, he spent his early years in London and in the countryside around the Kent-Sussex border before moving to Penrhyncoch near Aberystwyth in 1988.
It takes a compelling reason for a man to turn his back on a successful career in business and abandon forever all the trappings that go with it, but that is exactly what Alan Percy Walker did in 1972.

He gave up his job as a young executive in the oil industry – and retreated to a quiet country cottage. Why the change? Quite simply he could resist the pull of art no longer.
Today he is a successful artist and author. Last year he showed in 11 of Britain’s finer independent galleries and his work is now held in collections not only in Britain but also in Europe and the USA. His paintings are a celebration of craftsmanship, and endeavour!

Walker, who is best known for his detailed watercolour townscapes and marine landscapes, has been commissioned by various institutions: the National Trust, various universities, the Royal Marines, and has also has been commissioned on several occasions to paint the gold medal-winning garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.
Many of his pictures have been published as limited edition prints or between the covers of magazines such as Country Life but the artist is anxious not to be regarded solely as a painter of bricks and other masonry and his enthusiasm for new themes has increased in recent years.

“My work is very popular with commissioners who put a high prestige on detail; the Military, car and boat owners, horticulturists.
“I think people appreciate and enjoy the details and the likeness which my paintings have to a building, plant or subject which is dear to them,” said Alan Percy Walker.
The exhibition features mostly locations across Wales, including The National Library of Wales, Portmeirion – the Italianate resort village in Penrhyndeudraeth which has served as a location for films, most famously serving as the Village in The Prisoner and also old Ardwyn School at Aberystwyth.

When he has finished a painting you feel you know the character of that building, even to its imperfections and it’s very bricks.
Arwel Jones, Director of Public Services at the National Library said of the show: “‘The National Library is extremely privileged to be able to play host to this exhibition. It gives us great pleasure to welcome an artist who specialises in painting some of Wales’ foremost buildings.”

A Detailed Look by Alan Percy Walker, continues at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth until 12 February 2010.