Alan James McLeod graduated from Edinburgh College of Art in 1990 with a BA in Applied Design. He worked for several years in the textiles industry for Warner Fabrics, John Lewis and Habitat. 

Starting his career as an artist, McLeod started producing small collaged pieces which developed his abstract style. He then started focusing on surface depth and texture. 

He uses mainly water based paints on paper, sometimes combined with fabric to increase the textural interest. The surfaces are often washed or scraped, and the use of simple monoprinting and linoprinting add to the decorative effect.