Howth harbour

Alan Somers

Alan Somers developed his insight over a lifetime. Growing up with a strong advocate of the arts, he developed his skills, though for one reason or another, eventually stopped.
Passion makes way for more practical things, and life takes over. Time away, immersed into the daily grind of everyday life acted as a melting pot, where all the individual elements form something new and unique.
Every experience, from the innate suffering of the human soul, to the elation of the best times, comes together into the final product; the canvas soaks it all up, and is as integral as any other brush stroke.

Perhaps most notable are Alan Somers’ works involving the city – emotive pieces where the impressionist style helps shine a light on sights often unseen.
Living in the city, you walk by in a daze, thinking of your plans, the meeting that awaits you down the block, or the workload back at the office. Sometimes, you miss the subtlety of the city…the life, the atmosphere, the history.

Alan Somers captures these oft-forgotten facets beautifully – the time away from the art world, and everything life had to offer in the interim, has resulted in a calmer and more mature mind. It has refined how the canvas takes form; a moment in time, captured forever on canvas with intricate detail in the quintessential coarseness – the longer you look, the more evocative it becomes. Light and shadow take centre stage, playing on your senses to deliver a city different from the everyday experience; peeling back the modern façade to show what once was, and a reminder of what could be.

Although Alan maintains a recognisable style, his compositions avoid staleness, evidenced by the popularity of his landscape work – this artist is far from a one trick pony. Stylistically recognisable, with pieces differing in subject matter, colour choice and how that colour interacts with the piece, as well as the tone – Alan Somers has the uncanny ability to paint from exactly the same source material and elicit completely different emotions. Besides, as he will admit himself, he likes to change it up “in order to keep the work exciting.”

I think it’s safe to say, this artist will keep exciting for some time.