Hi, I am Allie Whelan; a largely self-taught artist with 30+ years of making acrylic paintings and mixed media work. I have a History BA from Reading University, a 25yr recruitment career, a soulmate of a husband, a home, 4 kids, 3 dogs, a running habit, and a new lease of life having survived breast cancer. In 2020 I grasped the opportunity to live my dreams, and have since immersed myself in a gardening career and painting my passions; people, community, nature, and animals. My aim is to capture and communicate the energy and joy experienced by family, friends and community, creating colourful, vibrant paintings of my local surroundings, including architecture, local parks and the countryside I run in; notably the Grand Union Canal, Welland Park and Harborough itself. My first series of paintings, ‘Support Local’, highlights local independently-owned and family-run businesses in my home town of Market Harborough, promoting their rich and varied offering and the wonderful service they deliver, and encouraging the post-lock-down community to ‘buy local’. I’ve used this series to experiment with different techniques and develop my own style and I have been lucky enough to host my first solo show of this work in the heart of Harborough during Autumn 2021. As a child I had two loves; drawing and animals! If I wasn’t lying on the floor doodling I’d be out and about walking my dog. Now, decades later I have the opportunity to combine these passions through making custom paintings of beloved dogs and cats and horses!