Greg Allen
Greg Allen
Born in Melbourne in 1958, and armed with a passion to draw and benefited by creative parents - his father a noted architect - Greg Allen began to develop a precocious understanding of design and materials, and the stuff of art, in his teenage years, which when honed with tertiary studies in Illustration and Graphic Design, culminated in establishing himself as a professional artist at the significant age of twenty three.
Wholly self taught, yet owing inspiration to Harold Herbert (Aust: 1891 – 1945), John Singer Sargent (1856 – 1925) and Arthur Streeton (Aust 1867 – 1943) he developed a strong, loose, yet richly – toned realist style tailored to suit not only his love of the robust Australian sunlight, but his increasing desire to paint a broadening range of subject matter, principally in watercolour, but often in oil and even in pastel.
Says the artist on this philosophy: “I have always believed in responding relatively to the maximum range of visual stimuli, for perhaps to do otherwise would be to inhibit an artist’s potential to emotively touch people in visually diverse ways and I think a society will ultimately judge you with this in mind.”
Greg Allen has developed a considerable reputation as one of Australia’s most accomplished watercolourists, both through his consistent award -winning originality and the quality of his works. His work invariably appears strong, colourful and diverse aspects indicative of his fundamental enjoyment of light and colour, yet always containing consistent elements of sound design, draftsmanship and a crisp, direct technique.
Greg Allen, his knowing brush strokes, incisive direct technique, cogent design skills and solid draftsmanship reveal his fundamental preoccupation with the playful interactions of light in landscapes and nude studies.
Armed with a passion to draw and blessed with creative parents his father was a noted architect - Greg Allen began to develop a precocious understanding of design and materials, and the stuff of art, in his teenage years.
Allen was born in Australia in 1958 and studied at the Caulfield Institute of Technology in Melbourne. He established himself as a professional artist when he was 23 and had his first solo exhibition that same year.
In 1982 he was awarded the prestigious Camberwell Rotary Travel Scholarship which gave Greg the opportunity to travel and study in Europe for five months. He has won this award a number of times since 1982.
In 1990 he studied pastel painting under Daniel Greene in New York. In 1991 he won the Alice Bale Watercolour Prize. He has won the important Camberwell Rotary watercolour Prize twice, in 1990 and 2000, and has 24 other major First Prizes and Best of Show Awards for watercolour to his credit. Greg is a much sought after tutor and has been a guest lecturer at Melbourne University.
With 12 solo exhibitions and 6 group exhibitions under his belt, Greg has a considerable reputation as one of Australia’s most accomplished watercolourists. His work has been acquired for several corporate collections as well as many important private ones. His work is exhibited worldwide, with galleries in Australia and Great Britain along with Portnoy Galleries in the United States.
His work has been published on several occasions and articles on his working methods have appeared many times in Australian Artist and International Artist magazines. He has led International Painting Workshop Vacations to Europe for International Artist magazine. Allen is a member of the Victorian Artists Society and the Watercolour Society of Victoria.
Greg Allen is an astonishing watercolourist and has developed a considerable reputation as one of Australia’s finest artists, both through his consistent award-winning originality and the quality of his solo exhibitions. He has written several articles for International Artist and Australian Artist magazines, and is currently working on his first book. Greg studied Tertiary Graphic Design and Illustration at the C.I.T. Melbourne. Among his other numerous awards are the Alice Bale Watercolour Prize and in 2004 the Primelife Corporation Prize for best Watercolour Painting in the Camberwell Rotary Art Show.
Greg has studied under Daniel Green in New York, is in keen demand to tutor watercolour classes Australia wide and is Guest Lecturer at the Melbourne University. Greg travels regularly overseas as a tutor for the Painting Workshops organised by the Australian Artist magazine.
Greg will be holding one workshop during the festival.
Watercolour / Pure & Simples (Code GA1) Intermediate
DESCRIPTION
Greg will share with you his painting experience and valuable insight, distilled from over twenty years of painting in Australia and Internationally
TIME AND PLACE:
July 22 to July 27 (6 days), 8.30am to 4pm,
Studio G6, Community Arts Centre.
WORKSHOP FEE:
$450.00
ART MATERIALS LIST:
