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About Tim Allen

Growing up in Southeast Los Angeles, Tim was  raised in a bilingual and bicultural home. And even though he did not visit art galleries in his early years, he did experience art around him. His uncle was an excellent portrait artist and oil painter and Tim remembers watching him work and having his drawings, paintings and art supplies around the house. 

Tim has been drawing and painting as long as he can remember. He has taken some art classes over the years, but is largely self-taught.  Tim’s early work was representational and done with pencil and pastel. Although he became interested in the works of Paul Klee and Joan Miró, it took a number of years for him to appreciate more abstract, contemporary works of art As that happened, he moved away from representational approaches. 

"After years of drawing and painting to capture realistic images, I did my first abstract paintings and encountered a whole new personal experience in art. Instead of feeling confined by the lines and shadows of my subjects, I now find myself immersed in textures and layers of paint with all my attention and focus on a cycle of what I do, what I see, what I feel - and how I react."

For him, abstract painting embodies a journey that has its peaks and valleys – some satisfying and gratifying moments and some that are frustrating and difficult. And sometimes there’s even humor which can make all moments fulfilling.  Above all, however, Tim cherishes the feeling of freedom he explores as he paints.  He wants people who view his work to experience that immediacy and complexity as well.

Tim Allen is probably known best in San Diego for his work as a school district and SDSU administrator. He and his wife Yvonne, who has also worked as an administrator in school districts and at SDSU, have lived in the San Diego area for over thirty years. He devotes time to painting his contemporary abstract paintings as part of the art community that has developed at Kate Ashton’s Art on 30th in North Park.

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