Bio

About Watercolor:

Painting in watercolor needs a special confidence and skill. With other painting media you can either mark over an image or, as with oils, scrape away the paint and start again. But there are few second chances with watercolor. It’s a tight rope walk and that is what continues to challenge and excite me.

About Charcoal:

After painting in watercolor for eight years, a medium that can be so unforgiving, I discovered charcoal. It’s a plastic medium and by that I mean, unlike watercolor, you can erase it, change it, push it back, pull it forward, scratch it out, build it up, manipulate it endlessly and it is that glorious freedom that I enjoy. It’s such an interesting counterpoint to watercolor.

Alex has a BA from American University in Washington, DC with a major in printmaking. After starting a family she ran a business producing custom-drawn silkscreened wall clocks. Her clients included the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center in NYC, the National Wildlife Federation, the NY Botanical Gardens, and the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. She then designed fundraising graphics for the University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA and for six years was the graphic designer for the Stockton Symphony. She worked for the National Park Service for five years designing informational outdoor exhibits for parks all over the US. After retiring in 2014, she rediscovered watercolor painting in 2018, and started exploring charcoal drawing in 2025.

Exhibits and Awards:

2022 Exhibited with the East Bay Landscape Painters, Berkeley Yacht Club

2022 Accepted into the Santa Clara Valley Art Association juried show

2022-23 Member of the Benicia Plein Air Gallery

2024 Duo exhibition at the Benicia Plein Air Gallery

2024 Honorable Mention at the Valona Crockett Epperson Gallery Paint Out

2024 Award of Excellence. WASH (Watercolor Artists of Sacramento Horizons) show, Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael

2024 Founders Award, Mendocino Open Paint Out

2024 Accepted into the California Watercolor Association’s 55th International Show