Alex Tabet

Clocks and Peonies

2023

Contemporary American artist Alex Tabet was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1988. As a young boy, Alex began exploring art by studying art books and taking online lessons. In early 2019, he began studying figure painting from life in oil with Julia Diller at the Atelier of Fine Art, in Los Angeles. He later continued his training in a self-taught way, learning much from online tutorials and workshops from several notable classically-trained artists such as Andrew Tischler, East Oaks Studio with Alex Venezia, Michael Klein, Louis Carr, Stan Prokopenko, Marco Bucci, and Scott Waddell.

Statement from the Artist: “Art has been a part of my life since I can remember. As a child, I frequently lost myself for hours in a drawing. The world around me vanished as I became immersed in my paper creations. My passion for art deepened through devouring art books and online lessons, guiding me naturally towards the realm of portraits and figures. Eventually other life focuses pulled me away from art, and I didn’t draw again for ten years. My once-beloved art became a forgotten childhood hobby. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a biology degree, I relocated to Los Angeles and dedicated myself to the pursuit of an acting career. I learned more about myself than I could have ever imagined, for acting is a craft of self exploration and expression. In the closing months of 2018, an encounter with exceptional representational fine artists on Instagram rekindled memories of my childhood drawing days. Their work stirred a deep yearning within me to create again. So, I posted an old piece from my teenage years. To my astonishment, within an hour, I received my very first commission. The moment I took up the pencil, my love for drawing surged back to life.

My passion to create awoke after a decade of dormancy. Many sleepless nights passed, for I was unable to leave my drafting board. I continued to draw, taking on new commissions, and my acting rehearsals transformed into discussions about art rather than acting. I wanted to learn how to paint in oils. Never having painted before, I began studying at the Atelier of Fine Art, an Art Renewal Center (ARC) approved atelier in Los Angeles. I was so new to painting that I didn’t even know what a hog bristle was. Soon enough, with a lot of dedication and hard work, I began progressing very rapidly.

Most of my free time now is spent behind the easel, oftentimes losing sleep because I find it hard to pull myself away from the canvas. In just my second year of painting, my work began to gain national and international recognition from respected art institutions and magazines. I have found my calling. With a paintbrush in hand, I look forward to the what the future may bring.”

Predominantly a portrait and figure painter, and an occasional still-life painter, Alex Tabet shares that his recent interest is in capturing the “in-the-moment” experience