Foul bottoms on display at Patonga

Patonga artist Alan Williams will have his work, Foul Bottoms, on display at the Patonga Bakehouse Gallery until May 25.

Mr Williams has been drawing cartoons and boats for over 65 years.

He was born in an air raid shelter in the UK during the blitz and later left to work as an architect in East Africa and New York before he arrived in Australia 30 years ago.

He has written and illustrated books on boating, military history and making kid's toys from junk, plus a series of humours articles for boating magazines.

These led to the publishing of Foul Bottoms, an autobiographical account of some of his nautical encounters and disasters.

He hides behind the pen name of John Quirk so that his architectural clients do not think they are entrusting their work to a sea going Mr Bean.

After years on the drawing board, Alan's style of humorous drawings have become more detailed with pen works and loose watercolour washes.

He is currently illustrating humorous books for a UK publisher and has a regular illustrated piece in Afloat magazine.

He is an "extreme creekie" and shares a weekend house across the creek at Patonga with his wife Joanne.

Letter, 10 Apr 2012

Joeclyn Maughan, Patonga Bakehouse Gallery