by Dr. Iain Corness
Alan
Kirkland-Roath is an artist who left a life of Armani suits and luxury
motor cars in the UK, for that of cotton overshirts and motorcycle taxis
in Pattaya. He is a man who has proven that innate talent will eventually
be such that it can take over your destiny. We can have more than one
direction in life, and according to Alan, his own artistic gift is one to
be shared with other people. A painting is “one way of staying
immortal,” said Alan.
He was not born into an artistic family, but in the
harsh realities of post-war England, in the manufacturing city of
Birmingham, and he still has the accent to prove it. His father had been
in the infantry, and after being de-mobbed was happy just to settle down
with a small fruit shop and be with his wife, daughter and baby son.
Alan was sent to the local government school where he
did quite well academically, but excelled in art. By the time he was in
his early teens, his art teacher (and his mother) wanted him to pursue a
career in art and go to art college. However, this was not so easy. “In
those days, you had no real choice. You had to go to work. The feeling
everywhere was that you had to have a trade.” This being the prevailing
culture, he left school at 15 years of age to enter an apprenticeship in
pattern-making. He lasted only one year. It was not him, he did not like
the conditions of working in a factory, and it was certainly not his
destiny.
A
young man with no real responsibilities in life can float through many
jobs, and Alan did just that. Eventually he drifted towards the seaside
town of Brighton, where he had enough money for one night in a hotel, and
then began knocking on doors, looking for a job. Another hotel did have an
opening, as a croupier, and he entered the world of the gaming industry,
where he was to be a player (or rather a worker) for the next 35 years.
“I had a good life and a good living from it.”
From humble beginnings as a croupier, he rose through
the ranks to work for some of the largest casino groups in Europe, and
even opened a casino in Holland for them. He had a high life, entertaining
the ‘high rollers’, playing golf with them, eating in the best
restaurants and chauffeuring them in the best cars. For a lad from
Birmingham who was going to be a pattern-maker, in many people’s eyes,
he had certainly ‘made it’.
After so many years in the industry, he has another
view on the position of the industry in society, and not being that of the
social evil that it is often portrayed. Alan acknowledges that some of the
money brought into the casinos might be considered ‘black money’ on
which no tax has been paid, but in the legal and closely monitored
casinos, portion of that ‘black money’ comes back into the
government’s coffers as the tax levied and paid by the legal casinos.
Casinos are also social places for people to gather in, rather than
hanging around in less savoury venues. “They are open until 6 a.m. and
this is good, especially for the Chinese as they work late,” said Alan.
Alan is also a thinker. “I believe in destiny. I do
believe that life is directed in some ways.” That direction came to him
during one of the lowest times in his life. His parents had died within
six months of each other, he was divorced, illness made him give up work,
the future did not seem bright. He was unsure of where he should go next.
“All the avenues were blocked,” said Alan. “I could only go in one
direction.”
That direction encompassed Pattaya, as he had a friend
who had a condominium here, so he came over ostensibly to relax and get
himself back together. However, that direction also encompassed art. His
talent in that area had always been with him. He had been painting and
selling some when he was a teenager, “But at 19 years old you’re more
interested in girls,” he said with a grin. Since then it had been
sporadic, but when he arrived here he took it up again, just to relax.
“Expressing myself through art was easy for me, so I didn’t think it
was all that important.”
But his talent began to come out, and he had an
exhibition at Jo Stetten’s Art Cafe in Naklua, which was successful. The
relentless direction of his new life continued, now opening his own
Gallery Opium on Thepprasit Road and being one of the forces behind the
new Art Collective which has formed in Pattaya with 40 Thai artists and 10
internationals. “I am busy, as I want to make art culturally important
for Pattaya,” said Alan. In this regard he is being assisted by the
Tourism Authority of Thailand, whose director, Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya,
also sees a benefit from it for the re-positioning of Pattaya in the
world.
Alan’s medium is watercolours, and he likes to inject
strong light and dark into his portraits. One of his favourite models is
obviously his Chinese girlfriend, and he even has one of his paintings of
her on the obverse side of one of his business cards. “To love and be
loved in return is very hard to find,” said Alan, but by his smile you
can see he has reached that aim in life.
So now after four years of living here, and four years of painting,
Alan Kirkland-Roath believes that his new career is now fulfilling another
need. He is relaxed, he is confident and at ease with himself and his
surroundings. He has his partner, he has his golf, and he has his
painting. He is truly ‘at home’.
