Keith McAllister

Keith McAllister was born in Northern Ireland but spent his childhood in Zaire (present day Democratic Republic of Congo) and Kenya. His grandparents were missionaries to the Belgian Congo, and some of his earliest African experiences were travelling through the jungle and open grasslands across the Ituri region, and visiting pygmy villages and trading posts at the edge of the muddy tributary rivers above Kisangani.

After moving to Kenya in the late 1980s Keith’s attention to wildlife art was further inspired by the books of collective works by artists like David Shepherd, Simon Combes, and Rien Poortvliet. His father’s artistic abilities helped Keith develop his talents from an early age and by the age of 13 he has been selling his artwork.

When Keith McAllister moved with his family to Cambridge, England, in the mid 1990s he met the internationally acclaimed artist Gerald Coulson and has benefited from his expertise and advice. Keith has had several shows in Kenya, the United States, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Keith spends several weeks of every year in Africa and travels through his old haunts as well as finding new horizons. “I still have a soft spot for Nairobi game park, as we used to spend countless Sunday afternoons there as a family….” He says. “But my singularly greatest adventure in Kenya was living with the Samburu and Turkana people for three months. That was fun!”

Though disciplined in watercolours and various other mediums the majority of Keith’s work is oil on canvas. When asked about his style of work he says, “I just want to put Africa on canvas, to portray that ‘safari feeling’ which comes from spending endless hours watching wildlife and then seeing it culminate in a great singular moment when wildebeest cross the Mara River, a cheetah hits breakneck speeds, or the setting sun turns the kicked up earth a bright orange at the feet of milling elephants.”