About the Artist - Alexandra Mallen

Alexandra Mallen was born in Germany and raised in Sebring Ohio.  She always had an interest in art, beginning with sewing and design and then branching out in to other art forms including oil painting, Scottish pen work and sculpting.

She was accepted to the Cooper Union School of Art where she attended classes in fine arts, design, live figure drawing.  She later turned her attention to the fashion industry and took a position with Glamour Magazine which led to a strong interest in clothing design.  After attending the Parsons School of Design for several years, she began employment with a sportswear company as an assistant designer, eventually designing her own line of tennis, running and golf clothing. 

After taking time off to raise her family, she began classes at the Isabel O’Neil Studio where for the next three years she studied decorative painting techniques.  Learning the finer points of marbleizing, painting primitives, European lacquering, stones, country faux bois and many other techniques, Alex found her true passion.

She loves finding unique pieces in antique shops and flea markets and applying her knowledge of the various decorative techniques, allowing her to bring out the beauty of these old treasures.  She finds the process of transforming something ordinary into something truly beautiful and unique extremely appealing – and with unlimited possibilities. ty of these old treasures.  She finds the process of transforming something ordinary into something truly beautiful and unique extremely appealing – and with unlimited possibilities. 

The Artistic Process

The entire process can vary slightly depending on the item, but each begins by searching for objects that are not only beautiful in their original form, but have a special quality that compels the artist to transfer them from something ordinary, into a truly beautiful work of art. 

Each piece is created with a great amount of care.  First, the design for the item is created, then a sketch of the design is completed before the paint phase begins.  To get the desired final product takes multiple layers of oil paint, which takes several days to dry between coats.  Finally, as a final step, multiple coats of varnish are applied – a minimum of 10 coats are used – to protect the piece and give it a glossy finish. 

Pieces with a gilded edge take even longer.  With gilding, the base is painted with five coats of oil-based paint, then shellacked, then varnished with several coats.  Once everything is completely dry, the piece is sanded down to a smooth finish so the gold will adhere perfectly.  The entire piece is then finished off with 10 – 20 layers of varnish and finally sanded to a smooth finish.

This art form is a true labor of love – and passion, and each piece is an original creation by the artist, with the design inspirited by the object itself.