At present Alan teaches part-time for the GSA Open Studios as well being a full-time artist. He has recently retired from teaching Art for 35 years. Throughout that time, he continued to draw and paint and occasionally exhibit.
Alan studied at the Glasgow School of Art during a golden period with the New Glasgow Boys. Peter Howson remains one of his oldest friends and encouragers: He always comes away from his door richer than when he arrived.
He has curated several groups shows where they exhibited together and one of these at Hamilton College also included Jolomo. Another one that he organised for the homeless charity Bethany Trust included Adrian Wiszniewski who kindly opened the exhibition at a gallery in Bothwell. At Art school he had inspiring tutors from Danny Fergusson, Barbara Rae and Sandy Moffat and they left their mark on him by developing his love for both figurative and landscape painting.