Alan Ainslie has established himself as a South African artist adept at capturing the spirit of untamed Africa in his paintings and sculptures. Depending on the subject matter of the painting, he uses mediums such as oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, charcoal or pencil to portray the wildlife of Africa. His painstaking attention to detail results in his paintings and bronzes being very realistic - the trademark of his work.  
     Alan was born in Port Elizabeth in 1952 and grew up on a farm near Graaf-Reinet in the Eastern Cape. After matriculating from St. Andrews College in Grahamstown, he attended the East London Art School under Jack Lugg and graduated in 1974.
     In June 1985, Alan participated in his first international wildlife exhibition at the Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The artist has three solo exhibitions and has participated in various international wildlife exhibitions.  Today his sculptures, paintings and drawings grace homes of art collectors worldwide, including South Africa, Namibia, France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Australia, Norway, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
      Alan has proved himself to be a versatile artist.  Beside his numerous wildlife commissions and exhibitions, he has also been commissioned by Sun International to paint large canvases depicting the wildlife images of the Lost City. He has also illustrated various stamp series for South Africa, India, Singapore, Namibia, Canada, and China.  Worth mentioning is his series of stamps honoring the South African Nobel Prize winners including Albert Luthuli, Nelson Mandela and Nadine Gordimer.
 Examples of the artists stamp designs include the South African tourist stamp series, two international stamp series for India and South Africa commemorating the life of Mahatma Ghandi, and a special series of the Big Five (leopard, lion, elephant, rhino and buffalo), released in May 2001. The inside front cover and watermark design of the new South African passport was also designed by the artist.
Some of Alan's recent commissions include a life-size bronze sculpture of two Oryx (gemsbok) for the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park between South Africa and Botswana.  The work was commissioned by South African National Parks and the Peace Parks Foundation.  The sculpture was officially unveiled by the Presidents of these two countries during the year 2000.  Sun City commissioned the artist to do bronze sculptures for two major golfing events, namely buffalo for each golf player participating in the One Million Dollar Golf Challenge (1998) and African wild dogs for each golfer participating in the Two Million Dollar Golf Challenge (2000).  Bronze sculptures of the Big Five for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals based in Pennsylvania, USA have recently been completed.
Alan is currently working on numerous commissions for individual art collectors and companies in the USA and South Africa.  These include two large collage paintings for a client in Atlanta and seven bronze sculptures depicting the "Magnificent Seven", the seven large bulls who roamed the Kruger National Park.  The seven elephants are currently being sculpted by the artist and will be launched in July 2003.  With the assistance of Dr. Anthony Hall-Martin, world-renowned expert on the African Elephant, each sculpture will be true to life, making this a unique, limited collector's edition.
Committed to the conservation of wildlife in Africa and elsewhere in the world, Alan has donated part of the proceeds from his work to various wildlife organizations.

EXHIBITIONS
1985   International wildlife exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1987   First solo exhibition: Sanderling Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1987   International raptor exhibition: Israel.
1987   Rhino and elephant exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1989   Directors Collection: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1990   Second solo exhibition: Sanderling Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1991   International wildlife exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1992   International wildlife exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1993   International wildlife exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1993   International wildlife exhibition: Erhardstrfse, Munchen, Germany.
1993   International wildlife exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1995   International wildlife exhibition: Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.
1999   International wildlife exhibition: Brisbane, Australia.
2000   Third solo exhibition: Silver Lakes, Pretoria, South Africa.
2004   Safari International Convention: Reno, Nevada, United States.