You are a self taught artist, who or what has been an influence on your work?

I have always been interested in art from a young age. I remember looking at my dad Kevin and uncle Karl who are both talented artists, so that filtered through to my brother Ian and myself. When we were younger we’d draw and paint on anything we could get our hands on – from school bags to the inside of wardrobe doors. I was never very academic in school and only had an interest in art class. When I got to my 20s I stopped painting for a long time. I regret that now as I should have kept going. Years later I became interested in watercolour painting and haven’t looked back. Watercolour artists such as Joseph Zbukvic have influenced me, while in oils, Rothco has influenced my colour choices.

Where and how do you work?

I work mainly from photos in my studio: everywhere I go I have my camera in hand always looking for inspiration. Sometimes I’ll use Google Earth to check out angles or closer details of streets. Memory comes into play too but, most of all, a good imagination is necessary. I’m never afraid to play around with colours to get the atmosphere or mood I want.

I like to work in watercolour and oil and generally spend a few weeks at a time in each medium, although I find watercolour the more difficult of the two. There is very little room for error in watercolour, however I love watching the pigment work through the water as it’s such a fragile medium. Oils are great fun and my preferred tool is the palette knife – I enjoy just pushing the paint around on the canvas and it’s a lot more forgiving than watercolour.

The scenes are in Dublin and elsewhere …

I have a large stock pile of images built up over the years – enough to do for some time. It does feel a little odd painting streets full of life and activity when you know it’s not there now. However it’s therapeutic to remember happier times too and I hope this exhibition gives a little hope that those times will return soon. The paintings also remind me of social distance too. I keep myself at a certain distance while taking some of the initial the photos and isolation is an inherent part of any artist’s life.

Need to Know: Alan Somers’ work can be viewed online from The Oriel Gallery, 17 Clare Street, Dublin 2: 10% of all profits for any paintings acquired during this time will be donated to Merchants Quay Ireland, which helps to provide accommodation, healthcare and rehabilitation for those most vulnerable in our community; www.theoriel.com.