Allan was born and educated in Dundee, Scotland, lectured in Khartoum, Sudan, and ran Expressive Arts departments in Papua New Guinea high schools before coming to the fledgling School of Arts, Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, Toowoomba in 1974. He retired from the University of Southern Queensland in 2005 after 31 years lecturing in Drawing, Art Education and Asian Art History, almost 7 of them as Head of the Visual Arts Department.
An exhibiting artist who has shown in several regional centres and most State capitals in Australia, often with his wife Amahl Gaafar, as well as in the UK and the Middle East, Allan is currently President of Toowoomba Art Society Inc. where he teaches life drawing and organises its signature exhibitions, the annual Toowoomba Art Society/ Chronicle Junior Art Expo at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, and the annual TAS Members’ Exhibition , held since 2005 as part of the Ergon Energy Flowers, Food & Wine Festival during the Carnival of Flowers. He was a founding member and inaugural Treasurer of Arts Council Toowoomba Inc.
A love of history, a passion for travel and a research interest in Islamic Art and Architecture have taken him to almost 60 countries.
His large panoramic drawings reflect an interest in Chinese scroll painting and a frustration with the limitations of the traditional European pictorial format. His landscapes and interiors using acrylic on tyvek range from 60 to 360 degree views and are 1300mm high by up to 9000mm long. They combine the oriental primacy of monochrome with occidental principles of aerial and linear perspective. Details of his drawing “Queens Park 2″ appeared in Arts Council Toowoomba’s inaugural Postcard Project.
Stanthorpe, Late Winter (Click link to view)
Interior with Turkish Rug and Rocking Chair
