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Artist Spotlight – Kevin Alexander

Kevin Alexander

Happy accidents are where the magic happens

Exploring the creative process behind an artist’s work offers a glimpse into the unique ways they see the world, draw inspiration, and translate ideas into visual forms.

Kevin Alexander, after 40 years in retail design, now explores mixed media and painting, drawing inspiration from the landscapes and seascapes of Scotland and Warwickshire. Using unconventional tools like credit cards and acrylic inks, he combines spontaneity with structure to craft dynamic, textured pieces. In this interview, he discusses his creative process, the role of happy accidents, and upcoming projects that push his artistic boundaries.

Kevin is our Artists in residence for this month’s Art Room exhibition From Natural to Abstraction.

Kevin Alexander
Kevin Alexander: Artist in Residence, LSA Art Room - From Natural To Abstraction

LSA: You’ve had an impressive 40-year career as a retail designer. How has your experience in design influenced your approach to art?

When I started in design, there were no computers. Everything was done by hand—drawing on paper with pens—and that’s how I worked for the first five or six years of my career. Then everything changed. Computers came in, and everything shifted to CAD, or computer-aided design. It was a slow process, learning how to do what I used to draw freehand on a computer. For people of your generation, working digitally is second nature, but for us, it meant relearning how to do everything.

I ended up spending 25–30 years working almost entirely on a computer. After all that time, I’d had enough. I wanted to step away from screens and reconnect with the tactile, hands-on process of creating. About six or seven years ago, I started painting again. It was a reaction to all those years spent in the digital world. I wanted to get back to pens, paper, and the original skills of drawing and painting.

This shift also changed what I wanted to focus on in my work. In design, everything I created was indoors—interiors and retail spaces. But when I started painting, I turned to the outdoors. I wanted to capture the big, open landscapes and seascapes I grew up with in the southwest of Scotland. The area’s dramatic skies, beautiful coastlines, and rolling landscapes have been a huge inspiration for me, and that’s what I try to bring into my work today.

LSA: You use a credit card to apply paint thickly and undiluted. Can you share what led you to develop this unique technique?

I started, obviously, as everybody does—with brushes. Then somebody suggested trying a palette knife. I gave it a go, but there was just something about it that didn’t feel quite right. One day, I had an old credit card lying around, and I thought, “Well, I’ll try that.” It was just lovely.

The credit card has a long side and a short side, and it’s flexible, so you can pick up lots of paint with it and get a nice, broad, solid line with great texture. The older the cards get, the better they are—the edges become worn, bits of paint stick to them, and they create these unexpected textures and happy little accidents. It just made perfect sense to me. I still have that first card somewhere, though now I’m on to my second one!

The rough edges of the old cards, with paint still stuck to them, give such great texture. You don’t get a smooth, even line like you would with a palette knife. You can pick up lots of paint, and the flexibility of the card lets you create all sorts of effects. I don’t know, I just love using it.

I don’t do everything with a credit card, though—it’s mostly for the base layers of paint. For finer details, I might switch to a small palette knife or something else. But it’s still mostly the credit card.

Lately, I’ve also started using acrylic inks. You can put the ink down, spray it with water, and then move it around with the credit card. Since the card doesn’t soak up the ink, it leaves all the pigment on the surface and lets you move it freely, creating sharp lines and interesting textures. It’s just a fantastic tool.

LSA: Do you find your travels significantly shape your perspective as an artist? Can you share a specific location that has left a lasting impression on your work?

Yes, pretty much all of my work is inspired by landscapes and seascapes. I travel a lot across the UK, and that really influences what I paint. For instance, I absolutely love the Warwickshire countryside—I cycle through it quite a lot, and the big, wide landscapes and the unique colours are really inspiring. Then there’s the Peak District in Derbyshire, where I often go walking, and its landscapes have a big impact on my work as well.

For seascapes, it’s Scotland that inspires me the most, especially the southwest, where I’m originally from. It’s got this rugged coastline with beautiful beaches, rocks, and a kind of light that you only find in Scotland. What I aim to do in my work is capture the essence of these places. The viewer might not know exactly where it is, but I’d like them to feel that it’s Warwickshire, or the Peak District, or Scotland. The colours, the light, and the atmosphere are so distinct in each place, and I want that to come across in my paintings.

Even though all the greens might seem similar at first glance, the greens of Warwickshire are completely different from the greens of the Peak District or Scotland. The skies and the light are different too, and that’s what I try to reflect. Warwickshire has these lovely greens and yellows, especially in spring, which contrast with the darker, moodier tones you’d find in Scotland.

In Scotland, I’m most inspired by the coastline of southwest Scotland, particularly the area around Dumfries and Galloway. That’s where I grew up, so it holds a deep connection for me. In England, I tend to be drawn to the Peak District, the Lake District, or Warwickshire’s rolling hills and countryside, which I think aren’t appreciated as much as they should be. A lot of local artists focus on Warwickshire’s historic buildings, like Warwick Castle or Kenilworth, but the countryside itself is so beautiful and deserves more attention.

Recently, a lot of my work has turned out to be seascapes. Even when I start with something else, it often ends up becoming a seascape—it’s just how things seem to go at the moment. This week, I’ve been working with thick textures using acrylic paint and layering inks over the top. When you pour ink onto textured paint and spray it with water, it disperses into the grooves and creates this lovely effect. That technique actually came about by accident, but I’ve carried on experimenting with it because those “happy accidents” often produce the best results.

I also think the time of year and the weather have an influence on what I paint. Right now, in the cold, grey winter, my paintings feel more like Scotland—cool blues and greys. In spring and summer, I tend to focus on brighter, warmer colours that reflect the Warwickshire countryside. I hadn’t really thought about it much before, but I suppose the seasons and the light do have an effect on my work.

LSA: For someone new to mixed media or painting with unconventional tools like a credit card, what advice would you offer them?

Well, I started out very traditionally, just using acrylic paint. But a couple of years ago, I did a course with another LSA artist, Maddie Webb. She ran some workshops in the art room, and I went along to a few of them. The focus of the course was to help us become more abstract in our work, and it really opened my eyes. Maddie also introduced me to acrylic inks and the incredible effects you can achieve with them, which was something completely new to me at the time.

After that, I started experimenting with a combination of acrylic paint and acrylic inks. Then I came across an online course about making your own collage papers using acrylic inks. I gave that a go, and it was fascinating—creating your own papers and layering them over paint gave results you just couldn’t get using a brush or traditional painting techniques. The papers are unpredictable, and that element of surprise makes them so exciting to work with.

So, my advice would be to never stop learning. Take courses, whether they’re local or online, and learn from other artists. For instance, Maddie’s courses were fantastic, and there are so many talented people within LSA and elsewhere who offer workshops. You don’t have to travel far to learn something new.

Even if you’re happy with your work and it’s selling well, there’s always more to discover. Every time I learn a new technique, like working with acrylic inks or making collage papers, it changes how I approach other aspects of my painting. Learning one thing often leads to fresh ideas in other areas, and that’s how you keep moving forward.

It’s also a great idea to look at other people’s work. You’re not copying them, but you can find inspiration in their techniques or effects. You might see something and think, “That’s a lovely effect, I’d like to try that.” When you do, it’ll naturally end up being different because you don’t know exactly how they achieved it. That’s how you make it your own.

So, keep experimenting, keep learning, and don’t be afraid of trying new things. Inspiration is everywhere, and it’s always worth exploring new ways of working to keep your creativity alive.

LSA: What upcoming projects or goals are you particularly excited about during the residency as you continue exploring your art?

As part of the residency, my plan is to start with three blank canvases and work on them simultaneously over the four weeks. I tend not to work on just one painting at a time—I always have two or three on the go. I’ll begin all three, work into one until a certain stage, then move on to the next. That way, all three paintings develop together. By the end of the residency, I’m hoping to have three finished pieces, or at least as close to finished as possible. Fingers crossed!
 
Working this way keeps me focused and stops me getting bored. If one painting isn’t going well, I can put it aside, move on to another, and come back to the first one later with fresh eyes. It also allows for a lot of learning as I go. For example, if something unexpected happens—a happy accident—on one painting, I can immediately try to replicate it on another before I forget how I did it. Similarly, if something doesn’t work on one, I can avoid repeating that mistake on the others. It’s a process of constant experimentation and improvement.
 
Another benefit is that stepping away from a painting for a while really helps. When you’re staring at something for hours, you lose your objectivity, and it’s hard to know what to do next. But if you leave it and come back later, it’s often obvious what needs to change. Sometimes it only takes a day; other times it might take weeks. That’s why having multiple paintings on the go works so well for me—it keeps the momentum going while giving me time to reflect.
 

So during my time in the art room, that’s what I’m aiming for: to explore, experiment, and hopefully complete three paintings while letting the process guide me.

Kevin is also exhibiting at the East Lodge in June: More details

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