Trips into My Mind's Eye will take the reader on a journey of discovery using visual art/images and the written word to give the reader an insight into my world. We will be visiting my watercolour paintings, my football team (Norwich City FC), my village (Shouldham), Roman Britain, Boudica Queen of the Norfolk Iceni tribe, Ancient Civilisations, Skiathos a Greek paradise Island and finally marvel at the wonderful wildlife that can be found in the beautiful English County of Norfolk. I believe that the use of visual art/images helps to tell any story more effectively than just words. I hope that the images that I have used will inspire the reader to come on that journey of discovery with me. After all, a message can be sent and received either as words or images. Our mind then makes a story from the images we see with our eyes. We all need to make sense of things we encounter. I believe that a picture saves a thousand words and that many people will, like me, prefer to view images as well as words. I hope you will enjoy our journey together. So if you are ready let's begin our adventure into my mind's eye.
Alan was born in the city of Norwich in the county of Norfolk, England in November 1949. When Alan was still a teenager he started painting whilst attending art classes in Norwich. In his mid-teens he had two paintings accepted for a National Art Exhibition held in London and other major UK cities. Alan spent most of his working life as a professional Health and Safety Advisor and rarely picked up a paint brush until Alan, his wife Susie and daughter Ginny (his other daughter Mandy is married and lives with her husband Adrian in Sheffield) moved out of the city of Norwich into the countryside in 1993. They moved to a little village called East Lexham in the heart of Norfolk. The village was very peaceful and pretty. This helped inspire Alan to take up watercolour painting once again. In 2004 they moved to another small West Norfolk village near Downham Market where they still live today. In 2008 Alan had to retire due to ill health (bad knees) and whilst he still painted regularly he began to spend more and more time gardening. In 2013 his wife Susie suggested that he kept a gardening diary to record his adventures in the garden and capture the changing seasons, animals, birds and the successes and failures of being a gardener he encountered. By the following year Susie suggested that he should write a book from his diary and include illustrations of both the garden and his artwork. In 2014 Alan's first book was published by Creative Gateway called "Retiring to the Garden - Year One". This proved such a success that Alan decided to follow this up with his second book called "Retiring into a Rainbow" featuring his watercolour paintings. He then in 2015 published "Retiring to Our Garden - Year Two" published this time by Rainbow Publications UK. He then re-issued his first two books this time in a "Second Edition". Also published by Rainbow Publications UK. In 2016 he published: "Skiathos a Greek Island Paradise", "Norfolk the County of my Birth", "Art Inspired by a Rainbow", "Ibiza Island of Dreams", "Majorca Island in the Sun", "Flip-flops and Shades on Thassos", "Mardle and a Troshin' in Norfolk", "England the Country of my Birth", "Mousehole the Cornish Jewel", "Sunshine and Shades on Kefalonia", "Shades and Flip-flops on Zakynthos" and finally "Trips into my Mind's Eye" Also published by Rainbow Publications UK. In 2017 he plans to write the following new books which will be entitled: "Crete and the Island of Santorini", "Cyprus the Pyramids and the Holy Land", "Corfu and Mainland Greece", "Flip-flops and Shades on many Greek Islands" and finally "Greece Land of Gods and Men". When completed they will also be published by Rainbow Publications UK.
