Alan Stanley was born in 1964 in El Paso, TX to his mother Elizabeth McKay from Edinburgh Scotland and his father Walter Stanley from Spur Texas.

Alan learned early on that he had a talent for drawing. When he was 8, he started entering and winning drawing contests, you know, the ones at the local restaurants & grocery stores.  Throughout grade school and junior high he was encouraged to stick with his art, which he did. With the support of his art teachers he went on to win several awards.

But it was also during this time that he was dealt a terrible blow. When Alan was only 12 his mom lost her 2-year battle with cancer. In those 2 years Alan experienced some very happy moments with his mom but needless to say the heart wrenching ones as well. That experience left him with a lot of personal challenges at a very important time in his life.

 By the time his senior year came around he found himself in advanced art classes where he was the only student at that level. During that time he started doing commission work and realized that his art could be a viable career path. He went on to win the Art Award his senior year and with that came a partial scholarship to The Dallas Fashion And Art Institute. He had plans of becoming an album cover designer, when back in the day vinyl was always wrapped in very artistic cover art.

As promising and as exciting as all of this was, life took Alan in another direction. He entered the working world after graduation but continued to study art at the local college. Alan soon realized that his art would have to take a back seat to everything else…. LIFE HAPPENS!

In 1990 he and his future wife loaded up their belongings and headed west to California. She had spent some time in California back in the 70’s and really wanted to go back.

About a year later, Alan landed a job at Warner Bros. Records in Burbank. While he looks at the 16 years he worked there with great fondness he laughs at the fact of finally working in the music business but not as an album cover designer.

In 2006 Alan and his wife left California for the Midwest where he was finally able to pursue his art full time. Alan gives great credit to his wife who has always given her support to his talent.