Born in 1965 in Scotland, Alastair Houston was brought up in the village of Fairlie on the Clyde Estuary on Scotland’s west coast. Alastair began sailing with his family from an early age.
As a boy the weekends and holidays were spent sailing around the west coast. In later times the family cruises would take in further destinations including Norway and Spain. After leaving school early and spending time travelling around Europe it was not long before he began working on the sailing yachts in the Mediterranean, it was the place to find work aboard yachts during the 1980s
Having always done a little painting at school and in spare time, a chance meeting with a classic yacht enthusiast gave the encouragement to hold the first exhibit of work in 1989 and so launched his career in the marine art field. This chance introduction to the traditional boats happened while working in a shipyard in Spain. Alastair found a subject that ‘looked good’ in the water, the appeal of these restored traditional craft as an art subject was further enhanced by the circuit of ‘Classic yacht’ regattas held in the Mediterranean. He has been a regular participant of this circuit, painting and exhibiting at the various venues for these gatherings.
Although his subject is predominantly traditional craft Alastair has exhibited the subjects of Oil exploration in the North Sea as well as modern yacht racing scenes. Other exhibits have included travelling and painting the scenes countries coasts like China and New Zealand.