Allen started to paint in oils at the age of 17, and went on to study graphic design at Harare Polytechnic. He then worked as a Graphic Designer, which he believes was good formal training in the elements of layout and design, elements that Allen feels are important in his paintings today.
Allen moved to Port Elizabeth in 1990, and soon opened his own silkscreen and manufacturing business. Through the years Allen continued to paint, occasionally holding exhibitions or participating in group or local exhibitions in Harare and Port Elizabeth.
In April 1999, Allen married and moved to Bloemfontein to join his wife, Kirstin. The couple decided to sell Allen’s business interests after several successful years, to allow Allen to begin painting on a full time basis.
Until recently Allen painted wildlife and explored and experimented with abstraction. However with the opportunity to paint full time, Allen has started to explore the human form. Working from photographs, he explores and exploits the human form in great detail. Allen has chosen to paint the people of rural South Africa as he enjoys subtly depicting the obvious hardships of rural lifestyles. He believes these hardships can be seen in the hands and faces of rural people. There is a texture to the lives of country people, which Allen finds fascinating most probably a result of the fact that it is a lifestyle and culture different to his and to that of many other South Africans. Although rural lifestyles have been recorded photographically, Allen believes that this subject matter has not been well recorded - certainly on a contemporary level - from an artist’s point of view.
Allen moved to Port Elizabeth in 1990, and soon opened his own silkscreen and manufacturing business. Through the years Allen continued to paint, occasionally holding exhibitions or participating in group or local exhibitions in Harare and Port Elizabeth.
In April 1999, Allen married and moved to Bloemfontein to join his wife, Kirstin. The couple decided to sell Allen’s business interests after several successful years, to allow Allen to begin painting on a full time basis.
Until recently Allen painted wildlife and explored and experimented with abstraction. However with the opportunity to paint full time, Allen has started to explore the human form. Working from photographs, he explores and exploits the human form in great detail. Allen has chosen to paint the people of rural South Africa as he enjoys subtly depicting the obvious hardships of rural lifestyles. He believes these hardships can be seen in the hands and faces of rural people. There is a texture to the lives of country people, which Allen finds fascinating most probably a result of the fact that it is a lifestyle and culture different to his and to that of many other South Africans. Although rural lifestyles have been recorded photographically, Allen believes that this subject matter has not been well recorded - certainly on a contemporary level - from an artist’s point of view.
