[gallery td_select_gallery_slide="slide" ids="18556,18555,18554"] Tim Saunders Saudi Gazette Matthew Alexander from Kent, UK has just started his 10th solo show in Dallas, USA. Needless to say, he is getting used to crossing the pond as more and more Americans fall in love with his landscape paintings. "I attended the preview for my current exhibition at Alan Barnes Fine Art and there were lots of red dots," reveals Matthew from Monkton. "This year's show is an exhibition of small paintings with the majority of works no larger than 12 x 16 inches and the formula seems to be working very well with several clients buying multiple paintings. Large paintings require a considered investment but I think you can always find a space for a small painting!" Back home, Matthew sold "virtually all my paintings" in his exhibition entitled ‘In the footsteps of the Impressionists' at John Davies Gallery in the Cotswolds, which finished in October. To finish off his busy and successful year Matthew is holding his Christmas Exhibition at the Barn Studio, Canterbury Road, Monkton fromNovember 28 until December 18. Next year looks even busier with another exhibition in Naples, Florida followed by a major London exhibition at Thompson's Gallery in Marylebone in March 2016. Matthew Alexander was born in 1953. His father Chris Alexander (1926 to 1982), the noted artist and lecturer, was the main influence on his painting style. After graduating from Maidstone College of Art in 1975 he moved back to his hometown of Margate where he began to paint and exhibit landscapes, which found ready buyers. He was soon exhibiting his paintings in many of the major galleries in the South of England and encouraged by strong demand for his work, began to submit to many of the major exhibitions in London. These included The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The Royal Watercolour Society and The Royal Society of British Artists, to which he was elected a member in 1985. During the late ‘80s Matthew's work changed quite dramatically and his larger, more loosely painted oils created interest from collectors, dealers and galleries alike. His first one-man exhibition in London with the Catto Gallery was a great success. Soon after he was approached by David Messum to exhibit at their prestigious gallery in Cork Street, London, where he continued to exhibit for 10 years holding very successful one-man shows each year in the spring. Matthew's work is currently represented in London by Thompson's Gallery, Marylebone. He has also continued to exhibit regularly in the USA. In 2011 he opened Alexander's Studio Gallery close to his home in Monkton, Kent where changing exhibitions of his paintings can be viewed. Last year he ran his first painting course from the studio, which proved to be extremely popular and further courses are planned for this year.
