Artist Statement
Roger Allen is a professional artist working mainly in the mediums of watercolour and oils. Based in Derbyshire for over 25 years, the dramatic and changing landscape of the Peak District provides constant inspiration for the paintings for which he is renowned. The tradition of the Romantic movement in British landscape painting may be discerned in his work, but a long association with farming informs an awareness that this is a working landscape; realism as opposed to idealism. Preferring to work, if possible, ‘en plein air’ he follows the Pre Raphaelite principle of truth to nature as can be seen in his closely observed work. Not confined to Derbyshire, Roger has painted throughout the country; the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales being particular favourites. Roger also paints urban scenes, still life, and narrative subjects which frequently confront notions of mortality and the passage of time.
Roger has had work selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Royal Watercolour Society Open, the Sunday Times Watercolour Competition and has been a prize winner on numerous occasions at the Derbyshire Open Art Exhibition. He has paintings in the permanent collections of the Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Wellingborough Borough Council, the Landmark Trust and Sir Paul Smith. Roger was elected a member of the Northampton Town and County Art Society in 1985, and Peak District Artisans in 2011 with whom he exhibits. He has been listed in ‘Who’s Who of British Artists’ since 2010.
