The Marshall Alexander Story

From Florida's palm trees waving in the wind along sun-soaked ocean beaches to the wide-open deserts and oak-studded hill country of the Southwest, Marshall Alexander's artistic journey has been influenced by the landscape around him.

Alexander is co-owner, lead designer and manager of Life After Art Studio in Austin, Texas. He is currently in the midst of one of his most prolific artistic periods during which he has produced sculptures, furniture and decorative glass.

"Austin and this part of Central Texas is the threshold to the West, both physically and culturally. Living in Texas has introduced me to influences of Native American people, in particular, the visual records left through pictographs and petroglyphs. Also, American Western cultural motifs are becoming more a part of my experience."

"The closer proximity to the dramatic landscape of Western lands (Texas, Arizona and New Mexico) has afforded me the opportunity to expand my imaginative palette with the addition of new color and textural experiences."

Alexander, who was born and raised in what was then the outskirts of Fort Lauderdale suburbs with the still mostly undeveloped Everglades to the west, began painting in his teens. His early work reflected the tropical influences of South Florida and that vibrant, colorful world still informs his work.

He moved to Connecticut in the early 1970s and began a successful career as a layout artist and art director. He moved to Vero Beach, Florida, in 1976, where he owned a business designing and installing vehicle graphics.

Feeding his hunger for artistic creation, he was a consulting designer to companies that specialized in stained-glass church projects and etched- and carved-glass projects. He also created metal sculptures and neon art.

As owner of The Cutting Edge for 12 years, a major sign and design company in Indian River County, Florida, he produced products that featured corporate identity, award-winning development and business signage, custom furniture and decorative glass projects. He sold the business in 1998 and moved to Austin to start his current business.

At the Life After Art Studio, he is lead designer and manager and co-owner with wife Barbara Berkeley. The company specializes in artistic/architectural commissions in a variety of medium with emphasis on decorative glass and cast/fabricated metal sculpture and furniture.

He recently completed a 9-foot cast-metal commissioned sculpture, "Buffalo Shaman." Some current projects include a series of slumped and formed glass vessels and illuminated glass sculptures.

Alexander credits his travels throughout Texas and the Southwest with opening his eyes to a variety of new techniques as well as the wonders of the natural landscape around him.

"Since coming to Texas I've explored sculpting and casting techniques more thoroughly with emphases on cold casting of metal and what I term 'fusion casting.' Also I am presently expanding my vocabulary of glass art through new forms of fabrication and coloration with a proprietary technique of translucent dyes and resins."

Austin itself, with its attention to high technology, is, "complementing my desire to weld the primitive and modern in my work, both in style and technique. My influences are diverse and I resonate to the very primitive and very modern. I also have a fondness for both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods in terms of stylistic elements. Ultimately, though, I simply attempt to imbue material that is noble and natural with the energy of spirit and create a form for that material that I hope others find beautiful and inspiring."

Alexander said reaction to his work has been enthusiastic and he hopes to increase exposure to a wider audience through their company's Web site. "Our hope is that increased exposure as well as our efforts to reach out to a broader base of design professionals will have an exponential effect on our business growth."