Member Article

Northumberland Artist’s New Website Helps Colour the World

An award winning artist from Northumberland launches a new website this week enabling him to reach art lovers right across the globe.

British artist, Alan Reed fell in love with watercolours at the age of 15, and over the last 35 years has developed a distinctive painting style that captures the atmosphere of different settings from the drama of city life to the serenity and beauty of a rural landscape. He not only paints scenes from his native north east but also further afield including the Middle East, Italy and the USA.

Alan Reed is currently celebrating 30 years as a full time artist and hopes the new website will enable more people to buy affordable art from the comfort of their own living room.

“I love welcoming people into my gallery in Ponteland and being able to discuss my work with them but not everyone is able to just drop by. The new website will be a very important way of ensuring that the business can continue to thrive,” said Alan Reed.

Online art sales went up more than 30 percent last year, according to an analysis by the European Fine Art Fair. It found the online market is mostly mid-range art — a growing and lucrative — niche. No stranger to the power of the internet Alan won the Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday award (Twitter @TheoPaphitis #SBS) in 2011.

“After discovering my work via the internet, an Italian gentleman, now living in Canada, bought an original that I had painted in Italy. Then another. And has now commissioned me to paint more in Rome. That would never have happened without him discovering my art via the internet,” said Alan Reed.

This year Alan was a Fine Art Trade Guild finalist for the Best Selling Artist with one of his limited edition prints of Grey Street in Newcastle upon Tyne; and was shortlisted for Artist of the Year 2014 by the Artists and Illustrators Magazine.

Alan trained as an illustrator / graphic designer at Newcastle College and spent the early part of his career doing artist impressions of new building projects for architects. He specialises in landscapes, cityscapes and portraits both in watercolours and oils, and has had many successful exhibitions both in the UK and abroad.

30 years ago Alan Reed became self employed as a full time artist through the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, which gave a guaranteed income of £40 a week to unemployed people who set up their own business with at least £1000 of their own funds. Over 350,000 individuals were funded through the scheme including artist Tracy Emin and the founders of Viz Magazine.

As well as painting and taking commissions Alan also does private lessons in painting and drawing and runs regular painting holidays in Italy.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Deb Sharratt Communications .